Chapter three: High goals

My reasons for committing these misdeeds are my own. I have regrets, yes, but I would do it again.

Three weeks ago

Jack woke up, shaking and sweating. It had been that dream again. Just a dream. Just a dream…

He sat up and took a moment to calm down. That nightmare… It was exactly the same as the last one. With the same creatures, the same things happening, the same words spoken…

Except there was…one thing off. He wasn't sure what. Did Herobrine say something different? The message he conveyed was the same, but—

A knock.

He gasped. His heart was suddenly pumping. His eyes were glued on the door, as if expecting some monster to come burst through it.

"Jack?"

He paused. "Cupa?"

"Morning," she called through the door. "You ready?"

"For what?"

"We were going to work on that new storeroom, remember? You said you wanted to help. You were…pretty adamant about it."

Ah, that's right. He had insisted on helping. He didn't just want to stand around and watch the others do all the work.

"What about breakfast?" he asked, slipping off his bed and putting on his pants. They were dirty and mildly damaged. He might have to exchange them for Overworld pants soon.

"That's why I'm waking you early," Cupa explained.

He grunted. "Right. Thanks."

A brief silence followed as he put on a shirt. As far as he knew, Cupa was still outside the door, but he could be wrong about that. She was better at sneaking than anyone else in the Realm, to the point where even Athena and Ari couldn't hear her.

"Are you alright, Jack?" Cupa finally asked.

"Fine."

"Your voice is shaking. What spooked you?"

And with her ability to be supernaturally sneaky came enhanced hearing. In Cupa's case, this was elevated to a level that was considered high even for mobs. Athena and Ari couldn't hear her move, but she could hear them. Jack was half convinced that an increased tolerance for loud noises was part of her power set; else she would flinch every time someone spoke.

"I'm fine," he whispered. He didn't need to speak up for her to hear him.

"You sure? If you come out here looking like death, I'm telling Andr."

With an annoyed growl, Jack put on his jacket, strode to the door and opened it. He glared down at the shorter girl before him—whose smirk immediately fell as she met his gaze.

"… I was joking," she admitted, her amusement making place for concern. "But maybe I should tell her."

Jack brushed past her. "What's she going to do, sing me to sleep?"

"Oh, she'll help you sleep, all right."

He shot her another glare.

"Seriously though," Cupa said. "You don't look very good. You should be feeling more at ease now that we're in the Realm. The rest of us are."

"Too early to talk."

She sighed. "I know you think they're still mad at you, but—"

"Not that," he sighed, annoyed. "Too early in the morning."

"… Oh." She chuckled. "Oh, my bad. Is Mr. Crank Snyder not a morning person?"

Another glare. "You people and your nicknames."

"Oh, yeah—Ari mentioned Jack wasn't your first name. She found out yesterday."

"It's my middle name." Ari had tried to 'beat it out of him', as she called it, but he hadn't told her. He wasn't planning to tell her, no matter how many times she defeated him in a fight.

"Then what's your first name?" Cupa asked.

"Not telling you."

"Not yet."

One more glare. "Not ever," he sighed. "Not ever…"

Present day

Jack stood outside his hideout, a soft wind blowing in his face. Sun had risen again; the cockatrices and Tempests had retreated for the day, replaced by their slightly less dangerous counterparts. Even so, Jack found himself looking around constantly, checking for Zephyrs.

Eventually Tristan appeared next to him. Jack didn't flinch. Apparently, Tristan had an ability that prevented his sudden appearance from startling anyone.

"Jack," Tristan greeted.

Jack glared at him. "Asshole."

Tristan frowned. "What?"

"You still need to tell me where we're even going," Jack reminded him. "Because yesterday you, you know, didn't."

"… Very well." The former Hunter looked out over the island—and the various other islands that floated in the distance. "We are going to visit the Valkyries."

Jack frowned. "Valkyries?"

"The protectors of the Aether. Their current leader happens to be at a Sanctuary nearby. If anyone knows where to find an Aether portal, it is her."

"Protectors? Like the Overseers?"

"Not exactly."

Jack paused. "Hold up, didn't you mention this part of the Aether is basically uninhabited? What are these Valkyries doing here if there's no one to protect?"

Tristan looked at him with that same grim look as yesterday. Then he pointed in a seemingly random direction. "You should start preparations for your journey. I doubt the Valkyrie Queen will stay in that Sanctuary forever."

Jack begrudgingly decided to ignore the blatant change in subject. "Way ahead of you," he said, grabbing an orange he'd stuffed in his inside pocket.

Tristan glanced at the fruit. "With the method you will use to travel from island to island, any food you bring will probably be little more than a hindrance. Leave it here; there will be enough edibles on the next islands."

Jack frowned, but emptied his pockets. Pieces of fruit gathered around his feet. "Okay. Then how should I prepare?"

"Bring some Ambrosium. You will need light. The Valkyrie Sanctuary is close, but we may not quite reach it before nightfall."

Jack nodded. He returned to the cave to fetch some of the luminous shards, which he stuffed into his pockets. Once back outside, he noticed Tristan had started walking. Jack followed him at a distance. Once again, he constantly looked around in search of Zephyrs. He also checked for caves, where the creatures of the night often hid while the sun was out.

Tristan's words—or lack thereof—haunted him for some reason. He didn't seem to like talking about these Valkyries, even though they were supposedly Jack's only hope of finding an Aether portal. Tristan had mentioned on his first day that the Aether's inhabitants generally weren't fond of humans; maybe as a former human, he had some bad experiences with them in the past.

Tristan stopped walking near the edge of the island.

Jack hesitated. Only when Tristan turned and beckoned did he approach, still skittishly looking around.

"Relax," Tristan said. "There are no Zephyrs here at the moment."

"What exactly are we doing here?"

Tristan glanced at him. "You need to go from island to island in order to traverse the Aether. Since you do not have the luxury of bridges, you will need a more…natural way to travel." He pointed to something below.

Jack peered over the edge. Below the islands were clouds.

They weren't normal clouds—at least not all of them. Aside from the usual white and grey, there were other colors like blue and yellow.

Jack glanced to Tristan questioningly. The former Hunter looked back. "These Clouds," Tristan said, "will help you find your way across the Aether."

"They're clouds…"

"Do you see that stone?"

Jack picked it up. "This one?"

"Drop it onto that one over there."

Jack did so and tossed the stone to the designated blue cloud, not too far below the island. The stone fell through the air and hit its target.

Whereupon it bounced right back up.

Surprised, Jack took a step back. The stone ascended to eye level, then fell down again. It bounced on the cloud a few more times before landing on a small patch of floating land nearby.

Jack looked from the rock to the cloud and back. "I didn't expect that…"

"Aerclouds are not like normal clouds," Tristan said. "Be careful however; each color signifies a different effect."

"So, blue is a trampoline?"

"Blue is as dangerous as it is useful. I suggest you avoid the golden variants as much as possible; they only make you fall faster."

Jack looked around, noticing the other shades. "What about purple and green?"

"A purple Aercloud will launch you in a specified direction. You can see which direction if you look closely."

Jack squinted at a nearby one. Sure enough, he saw small pieces of a purple Cloud flying off in the general direction of another distant island.

He pointed. "Can I make it to that island?"

"Not with that purple Cloud alone. It will not send you that far. Regardless, purple is more reliable than green."

"How so?"

"Purple," Tristan said, "is consistent. It always sends you in one specific course. Green…not so much."

"So, if I land on a green Cloud, it'll just send me flying in a random direction. What about white? Are they just regular clouds?"

"No. They will break your fall, and you can walk on them. They are the safer variant."

Jack looked to another island—one much closer, but not directly connected to the island he was on. "So I have to move," he said. "Using clouds."

"Find the spot where these two islands are closest to one another." Tristan pointed.

Jack looked in the distance. There was a steep hill on his island; the edge of the other island was notably lower. Jack noticed a few Aerclouds in the small space between the two.

Tristan vanished. Taking the hint, Jack started walking.

It took him about ten minutes to get to the elevation, and another ten to get up onto it. Once there, he took a moment to catch his breath. The hike to the hilltop had been brief, but steep.

One side of the hill—the one at the edge—went almost straight down. A purple Aercloud floated below, its particles flying off in the direction of the second island.

Tristan appeared next to him and pointed with his crossbow, which materialized in his hand. The weapon he'd used during the hunt for Yaebi. "Use that Cloud to travel to the next island," he ordered. "It will break your fall downward and redirect your course."

"Right," Jack said. He looked over the edge to the purple Cloud below, trying to contain his nervousness. He had done this before, in the Trial of the Elements—except there hadn't been anything to catch him at that time.

"The Cloud is at exactly the right height," Tristan said. "Go. You will be safe." He vanished.

"Easy for you to say," Jack sigh-growled.

Then he jumped.

He hadn't allowed himself to think. Thinking would only make it harder, even if he didn't have another choice, even if what he was doing was supposedly safe enough.

He immediately regretted it.

Panic kicked in as he fell, a wind pushing against him from below. With flailing arms, he spun in the air. For a moment he was just falling.

Then he sunk into something semi-solid, not unlike a loose bundle of wadding. His stomach lurched as his fall suddenly slowed to a stop and was redirected sideways, out of the Cloud.

He flew for a moment longer. Then he fell and hit the grassy ground, winded.

Gasping for breath, he rolled onto his back.

He had made it.

He took a moment to calm down—which didn't take as long as he expected. Maybe the things he'd encountered in the Overworld and the Trials had actually made him more resilient in a way, even if he'd relied on Herobrine's mind control during some of those events. Or maybe some of the madness caused by his resurrection had lingered, and he was too insane to panic.

He got to his feet.

Tristan reappeared. "This," the Overseer dryly said, "is why I advised you not to bring additional food."

"Just shut up."

Tristan looked amused. "We are not at our destination yet. You should keep going."

"How many times do we have to do that?" Jack asked, gesturing to the purple Aercloud.

"We will see," Tristan said. "Most transitions will be calmer than this one, though."

"At least there's that. Which way?"

Tristan pointed, and Jack started walking.

As the sun rose, the Hunters and mobs took shelter in a small cave—one of many on their way to the portal, according to Raulyn. This one was big enough to house both groups with a fair distance between them—distance they gladly used. Athena had taken a seat on the ground, the stone wall at her back.

The Hunters started a fire. Blazette used her own powers to generate warmth, which Mystia happily took advantage of.

Minerva—who had been unconscious for the first part of the trip, but had since gained a resistance to Andr's teleportation side-effects—sat down next to Athena. They'd both wondered how it would feel to be bothered by cold. Many mobs were used to being in cold caves, but still preferred to have a source of warmth nearby. Athena, on the other hand, had always been more comfortable in snowy areas with little sun or heat, and Minerva had never cared about temperature to begin with.

"So," Minerva said, briefly glancing to the Hunters on the other side of the room. "How've things been going in the Overworld? Heard you made some friends."

Athena took a moment to respond. "It's been…fine, I suppose."

Minerva looked at her flatly.

"After our little falling out," Athena softly said, "I tried to go on by myself. I met some other mobs."

"Like Yaebi?"

"Him, Ari, Cass and Sylvia. We made a home in a cave system somewhere. We first encountered Jack, Andr and Cupa a couple of weeks ago."

"Jack was with Andr?" Minerva glanced to the tall mob in question, who was sitting in a corner, separated from the others but still close enough to Blazette to benefit from her fire powers. Athena found it weird seeing her without her hat. "How long had he been in the Overworld at that time?"

"A couple of days, I think," Athena said. "Anyway, we met Mystia and Gelli soon after, and…" She trailed off. "Wait…"

"What?"

Athena hesitated, remembering something she'd said to Jack shortly after meeting Mystia. It's convenient, don't you think? First you save my brother from a bunch of mob hunters—who I later learned were the Ironhand Hunters themselves. Then, somehow, I meet my brother's savior less than a day after Yaebi returned here, and three days before more mobs and a sympathizer come along and join our little group. As a final stroke of good luck, they even point us in the direction of a good hideout.

That is convenient, Jack had responded. He'd seemed just as confused as her.

There's something deeper going on here, Athena had responded, and you're at the center of it.

"Herobrine…" she said. "He's the one who sent Jack to the Overworld. And he somehow knew what Jack would do. Better yet, he knew what we would do. He knew Yaebi would be headed for the Silver Cave, he knew Jack would turn against the Hunters… Andr and Cupa traveled around a lot at the time, and they just happened to be in the right spot for Jack to meet them after he left Ironhand."

"Not surprising," Minerva casually said. "Herobrine is powerful. I think he has a better view on the future than we do. He probably brought Jack to the exact right place at the exact right time and predicted where he would go from there."

"Or that mental influence he used on Jack had been there from the very beginning, telling him what to do and where to go in order to meet us. Jack might not even have turned against the Hunters by choice; that might've been Herobrine's doing as well."

Minerva hesitated. "Herobrine did mention he wanted to use Jack to create peace between humans and mobs, if possible."

"So we might never have met the real Jack." Athena sighed. That wasn't pleasant to think about. For all she knew, Jack's real self was as hateful as the Hunters.

"Actually," Minerva said, "I don't think that's true. Herobrine brought Jack to the Overworld because he needed someone with a fresh view on things, unaffected by the Overworld's dogmas—not someone whose views he could change as he saw fit. I don't think Herobrine's brainwashing went deep enough to change Jack's principles like that."

Athena didn't respond. She still wasn't sure what to think of it. Herobrine's letter had mentioned that he had been responsible for taking Jack to the Overworld. That was ironic; Jack originally thought Áhýdan had taken him, and Herobrine would bring him back to Earth.

Maybe Minerva was right and Jack's principles had remained unaffected. But his bravery, the moments when he fought humans in defense of mobs… Was that him too? Or was that Herobrine? She knew he'd been in fights before on Earth, but how many of those had been a matter of life and death?

Mystia let out a sigh. "Oh, no…"

"What?" asked Minerva.

The witch glanced to her. "Somehow, I forgot to refill my water supply when we were in Ironhand. I'm running low, and there's no source nearby."

"Can't you just drink your potions?" Blazette spoke up.

"Yes, and waste carefully created concoctions so we won't have them when we need to save someone from bleeding out."

"Just drink one you don't need!"

"And what kind of genius would bring a bag with potions that she doesn't need?!"

"Áhýdan's eyes," Minerva muttered under her breath. "Both of you!"

Mystia gave her a look. "What? I just need water…"

"The Hunters might have some," Athena said, glancing across the cave to the humans in question.

Mystia grimaced. "And who's going to ask them?"

Silence.

Finally Athena got up with a sigh. "I'll do it. They know I'm our leader; maybe I can get them to respect us a little if I take action."

Minerva grabbed her by the arm. "I'm not losing you again."

"They won't kill me," Athena reassured her. "Not if they want our help."

"That's the thing—they don't."

"But they need it."

Minerva clenched her jaw. "Be. Very. Careful."

Athena nodded and proceeded to walk over to the Hunters, trying to ignore the heat from their campfire. Her instinctive fears warned her as she approached them. Alliance or not, they were still humans. Humans who specialized in killing—and, well, hating—mobs.

"…is absolutely what caused it," Rayallv was saying to one of his fellows. "I understand that Kai used to be so vicious that they could fill up a king's bath with the amount of mob blood he spilled. But that became less when…"

All fell silent when the Hunters noticed Athena approach. The three lower-ranking Hunters—those being Rayallv, Ilyoin and Galen, if she recalled their names correctly—scowled and rose to meet her.

"What do you want?" growled Galen.

Athena stopped a fair distance away. "Just some water," she calmly said. She glanced at Raulyn and Kai, who quietly observed the exchange.

"And why should we be giving you that?" Galen demanded. "Only one of you is dependent on water. Why should we care if she died?"

"Because Mystia is the most knowledgeable person in this cave," Athena calmly responded.

"Are you saying we are not smart enough? I think we sh—"

"Enough," Kai sighed, still seated. He bent forward, took a bottle out of his bag and held it out to Galen.

Galen took it with a questioning expression.

"Give it to her," Kai ordered. Athena had suspected he was of higher rank, and now that he was giving orders, those suspicions were practically confirmed.

Galen hesitated. He looked over to Raulyn, but the captain's expression was unreadable. Galen turned to Athena, looking conflicted.

Finally he extended the bottle to her. Athena reached out to take it, feeling oddly relieved.

Then he dropped it.

Athena jumped back as the glass bottle fell on the ground and shattered.

The three chuckled at her reaction. Athena paused, composing herself. She didn't need much time to do that. She wasn't going to start a fight over some prank.

She noticed Kai sighing quietly.

"Oh, I apologize," Galen mockingly said. He turned and reached inside the bag.

"Did the bottle slip out of your hand, Galen?" Kai asked casually.

Galen paused, taking a second bottle. "Yes, Lieutenant."

"What would happen if your weapon slipped out of your hand in the middle of a fight?"

"I would die, sir."

"Correct. Also, you will be charged for that water bottle you broke once we return to Ironhand, and you will be the one to refill our water supplies as soon as we come across another source on our journey."

Galen frowned at him for a moment, then slowly turned and reluctantly offered the second bottle to Athena. She took it in a swift motion, not giving him the chance to drop it again.

As she moved back to the mobs, she heard Raulyn quietly say something to Kai. The two Hunters got up and moved a distance away.

Athena handed the bottle to Mystia and sat down next to Minerva. A silence fell.

"Everything alright?" Mystia finally asked, opening the bottle and taking a swig.

"Yeah," Athena said. "Galen was being funny."

"Humans really have humor, don't they?" Minerva said.

"Now, listen," Mystia protested. "I'll have you know my jokes are phenomenal."

Athena let her gaze wander. It landed on Raulyn and Kai. The two seemed to be debating in hushed voices. They were a little too far away for her to make out the words. Even so, she half-heartedly tried to listen in.

She had to wonder though—why did Kai react the way he did when Galen played his prank?

"You did not have to berate Galen the way you did," Raulyn said to Kai, keeping his voice down. Some mobs in the group had enhanced senses, and he did not want them to hear this conversation.

"He showed disrespect, sir," Kai responded. "We have a limited amount of bottles and limited water."

"Would you have reacted the same way if he had really dropped the bottle by accident?" Raulyn sharply asked. "Or did you just defend the mob?"

"Why in Krysphion's name would I defend a mob?"

Raulyn's eyes narrowed. "Do you think I do not know about your past? The incident three years ago? Mobs are manipulative, and even the most brutal and well-trained mob hunters can be swayed." He looked Kai dead in the eyes.

Kai said nothing. Something Raulyn had noticed was that the lieutenant did not like being reminded of how much more effective he used to be.

"Tread carefully, Kai. I respect your skill, intelligence, and even your criticism. But I sometimes question your loyalty."

"Then why am I your second in command?"

"Remember whose side you are on, Kai," Raulyn whispered. "I only let you join us because despite your apparent reservations, the hunters in Slaenone still found you capable."

Kai fell silent again.

That was enough. Raulyn turned and stalked back to the campfire.