Hey ya'll, it's Enderdeath! I hope you're having a great day, and I hope to make it even better with this new chapter. This chapter has 1,160 words. NOTE: I do not own Mianite, any YouTubers mentioned, Minecraft, and really, I don't own anything except the idea. ALSO: I am not claiming the real Declan actually deals with this sort of thing, nor do I; this is purely fantasy.

Chapter 10

"Why didn't the spell work?" Dec screamed at Khione, tears blurring his vision. Dianite scrambled to his feet, eyes widening in shock.

"It – it failed?" Dianite sounded more stunned than anything else. "How? Why?"

"I do not know," Khione murmured, her gaze trained on the floor. "I – it was all right and it just…" She trailed off, unable to continue.

Dec walked over to User as if he was in a trance, his eyes staring at nothing and his feet dragging against the floor. Dec gazed at User's face, desperately hoping for some sign of life.

No.

No way.

There was no way in all the Nether.

And yet, slowly but surely, User started to breathe again. At first, his breaths were faint and barely audible. But colour began to return to the wizard's face and his eyes fluttered open.

"User?" Dec whispered very quietly. User gave a shuddering sigh and ever so slowly, turned his head to face Dec, breaking out into a wide grin when he saw the priest.

"If only you could see your face right now," User laughed softly.

Dec smiled, but he could feel tears running down the corners of his eyes. "You were freaking dead," Dec whispered, "And all you can think about is how funny my expression looks?"

User only grinned wider, and Dec couldn't restrain himself any longer. He practically leapt up onto the altar, collapsing onto User and hugging the wizard, weeping and laughing at the same time.

"You're alive," Dec murmured over and over, feeling User hug him back. "You're alive."

"Not if you keep squishing me flat like you're doing right now," User joked. Dec rolled off, blinking apologetically, but User grabbed his hand. "I missed you," User murmured.

"User!" Twisted's overjoyed squeal interrupted Dec's thoughts. User smiled as Twisted rushed over to him, tackling him into a hug. Wag also ran over and crushed both Twisted and User in a double hug. Dec, having already celebrated the joy of User's return, stood back a little ways, grinning and blinking back emotional tears.

Eventually, everyone calmed down and User was able to climb off the altar, though he had his arm thrown over Twisted's shoulders and was leaning heavily on the half-wizard. Dianite had disappeared shortly after User woke up and Khione was busy on the other side of the room, bending down over something in what looked like complete concentration.

"Man, it feels good to be alive again!" User smiled, breathing in deeply. "Though I've experienced so much near-death recently, what with the fiasco with Twisted and me, you'd think it'd be a relief to finally die!"

No one could resist laughing and Khione glanced over at them, her eyes sparkling. "User?" She called over, "Do you remember the blessing I gave you, centuries ago?"

"How could I forget, my Lady," User smirked. "You gave me the blessing of hope. I hope I've done well."

"Though anyone would think I had given you the gift of puns," Khione rolled her eyes. "Dec, could you come over here for a minute?"

Dec obediently walked over to the goddess, though somewhat hesitantly as well. Khione took a small item off of the table behind her and at first glance, it became clear that it was an envelope.

"Cast away your old life and then read this," Khione gave the letter to Dec. Dec glanced at the envelope, then back up at the goddess only to find that she had vanished.

"Well then," Wag commented. "What are everybody's thoughts on heading home from this little adventure?"

XxX

The heat was hot and the ground was dry, but Dec and User were full of laughter.

It had been weeks since User had been resurrected and in the time, he had been happier than ever, but there were some moments where he would abruptly fall silent and stare blankly into nothing.

Dec knew that being in the world of the dead had scarred User emotionally. There would be times, when he was still recovering and staying in User and Twisted's house, that the wizard would wake up screaming from nightmares and be a shivering wreck for hours after. User refused to tell anybody about the place of the afterlife, but Dec could see the terror in his eyes whenever anybody brought it up.

But other than that, things were back to normal. Dec and User were strolling through the Nether now, laughing and talking as the ghasts whined and the pigmen grunted around them.

Completely normal.

Just like it was completely normal for Dianite to suddenly materialize in front of the two and snatch away the mahogany box that Dec held.

"Oh come on," Dec protested, unafraid as Dianite's eyes narrowed. "Couldn't I at least have the honour of tossing that thing in lava myself?"

Dianite stared at Dec, but didn't hand the box back. "No," Dianite said simply. "The dagger holds too much power and spite. It was enchanted with a curse – en evil one. More evil than I and all the things in the Nether." This earned a snort from Dec and a glare from Dianite. "I'm serious. The moment I saw that blade, I knew you were cursed with the burden of carrying this."

"You got that right," Dec rolled his eyes. User huffed in annoyance and lightly smacked the priest's shoulder as a warning. "But still, I'd like to have you give it back to me so I can have the satisfaction of watching it disintegrate in lava."

Dianite eventually handed the box back to Dec, his gorgonizing white gaze never softening. "Do what you wish with it then. But remember Declan. I am – and always have been – proud of you as my son."

Dianite dematerialized, leaving Dec and User standing side by side, just as they were mere minutes ago. The two friends shared a glance and they continued walking as though nothing had happened.

Eventually, Dec and User reached a netherrack cliff overhanging a lava ocean far below. Dec walked up to the very edge and took the dagger out of its box.

Dec stared at the diamond blade one last time.

And with a smile, threw it down, down, down, into the lava.

"Casting my old life away," Dec murmured, sitting down with his legs dangling over the edge of the cliff. He pulled the envelope out of his pocket, took out a letter, and started to read it with User peering over his shoulder.

'Declan

Through all your life, the gods have been watching, waiting for you to make the right choice. What you have just done was entirely your choice – but it was the right one. The gods are proud of you as their priest. Be strong. Be faithful.'

Dec finished reading Khione's letter and turned around, smiling at User. It wasn't always that situations like this had a happy ending.

But Dec sure was grateful that he had friends like his.

Gorgonizing is a word that went out of use decades ago, but it means 'mesmerizing.'

Random Observation: A HAPPY ENDING! IT'S A MIRACLE!

RusYRP: I hope it met your expectations!

TheAmazingQwerty: Okay... I guess you aren't gonna see the happy ending then...

MyBrokenHeart123: Okay - I DIDN'T! I DIDN'T DO IT!

ironhideandratchet4ever: Have I healed you yet?

Ianitethecookie: Yeah! The Dianite vs. Khione scene was SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE! It reminded me a bit of the Aurey vs. Capsize argument.

Lieutenant Side Salad: I love this side of Dianite! Dianite FTW!

DiamondScribe: So I can make you happy in the end!

KittKaz: USER IS MY BAE! USER SHALL ALWAYS RETURN!

Well, now that TPD is over, it's time for the next story. I'm not putting a definite date on when it will be out because it will possibly take longer to get ready. But I hope all of you have an excellent holiday season!