Before we begin, another review from ara celene!

Ara celene: Yeah, I actually do have most of Bedrock Key planned out already, though I may add some stuff because I am an impulsive person by nature.

And as for more people discovering this fic…I think several people have discovered it already, but just haven't left reviews.

YOU THERE! YEAH, I SEE YOU! LEAVE A REVIEW! NOW!

That's probably not going to work at all, but you know. Even a few words work. (Well, not really, but you know.)

But you don't have to. It's fine. After all, I don't write for the reviews.

…

…I think. Do I?

ANYWAYS READ THE CHAPTER

Krios

A Certain Soul Makes Their Debut

We both stared at Sam blankly.

"What do you mean, you found her?" Jax said, sounding slightly off put. "I've been looking for ages and never even found a hint of her."

"Well, you don't have the connections I do." Sam shrugged. "You dreamt about her, right? Said she had long golden hair, a red jacket, a belt with potions, and a big ol' spear on her back?"

"That's right."

"Wait, what?" I looked questioningly at Jax. "You dreamt about Notch's reincarnation?"

"Ah, well—"

"And you didn't freaking tell me?"

Jax scratched his neck awkwardly. "In my defense, I couldn't find the time."

"But you could find the time to send Sam a letter about it," I said dryly. "Got it."

"Toni--"

"So anyways," Sam cut in, "there's this guy that I know that works as a bellhop at this big fancy hotel, and he says he saw her not long ago. Perfectly matches your description." Sam leaned in. "And get this—she said she was heading towards Outopia last."

Jax raised an eyebrow. "Outopia?"

"Yeah, Outopia." Sam grinned. "Weird, right?"

"Uh, what's so weird about that place?" I asked.

"It was burned to the ground not long ago," Jax frowned. "A lot of people were killed and captured. And the whole thing was a lot worse than Cratre or Janlyn, because that was actually one of the major cities in Greenmoore. And one of the more well defended, as well."

"..oh."

"But what I don't get is why she'd wanna go to Outopia of all places." Sam tapped her foot on the ground. "Everyone's been evacuated long since."

"Well, there's only one way to find out, right?" I said. "We need to follow her to Outopia."

"Now hold on," Sam said, raising her hands. "Baby steps. I literally just got here, and the food on my plate isn't going to finish itself."

"We found Notch's reincarnation and your first priority is to finish your rabbit soup?" Jax said incredulously.

"Hey! The rabbit soup is good, okay?"

?-?-?

After eating dinner, we set off for the portal hall. Nobody actually knew that we were leaving Valaither, which according to Jax was a good thing.

"We can't let the traitor know we found Notch's reincarnation," Jax said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I raised my hands. "What do you mean, traitor?"

Jax frowned at me. "Isn't it obvious? The withers. The bombed respawn station. The broken beds. This can't all be some prank. This had malicious intent behind it."

Sam blinked. "The wha?"

"Oh, right." Jax said. "Sam wasn't there." As we walked, Jax quickly filled Sam in on the whole wither incident.

"Oh," Sam said. "That's insane, but what made you jump to traitor so quickly? How do you know it's not just some psychopath with wither skulls? Or maybe a criminal?"

Jax shook his head. "Listen. While the arena for Skywars and Bedwars may look like it's taking place in the sky, that's all just an illusion. The reality is, the arena's just a big box that's enchanted to look like the sky. There's a force field around the entire arena: 'the void'. The void instantly vaporizes anyone who falls into it, but directly below the void there's a sort of space where the void and the sky illusion are managed. I think that's where the withers came from."

"Didn't you say they rose from the void?" Sam said, confused. "Wouldn't the withers have vaporized?"

"Maybe it was because withers are immune to damage while they're forming. Maybe the traitor turned off the void for a split second." Jax sighed. "I don't know. In truth, that's just a theory. But even so, only trusted people and mechanics have access to that room. And only a few really know how it works."

"Okay," Sam said. "I feel like we're circling back to the whole 'psychopath with wither skulls' theory."

Jax's expression was dark. "Either way, it was someone in Valaither that did this."

"And that makes them a traitor?" Sam said.

"The definition of a traitor is a person who betrays a friend, group of people, or country." Jax scowled. "I think this person broke our trust pretty badly. Anyone could have died. It's a miracle there were no casualties."

After that happy discussion, we finally got to the portal hall, and boy was it a blast from the past. It felt like only yesterday when I'd stumbled into Valaither for the first time, having barely escaped Klith with Jax.

Good times.

"It's this one." Jax pointed to a nearby portal. "It's closest to Outopia."

"How do you even tell them apart?" Sam said, looking down the hall with near identical portals.

"There are signs, Sam." Jax pointed to a sign above the portal that had coordinates drawn on it.

"Okay, but still…"

"I do my research, Sam."

"Let's go already," I said, impatient.

Jax walked in first. Then Sam, then me. The world around me turned white, and my vision twisted. I think I was more used to traveling through these portals now. This time I only gagged once.

We stepped out into an unlit stone room. The portal vanished behind us, leaving the room dark.

"Ugh," Sam complained. "What's with this spawn?"

"Gimme a second," I heard Jax grunt. There were a few clicks, the sound of wood tapping stone, and then a loud creak.

Light flooded the room as Jax pushed open a trapdoor in the roof. Red sand poured down, and Jax climbed up a ladder that was connected to the trapdoor. Me and Sam followed.

We emerged in the middle of a badlands biome, and I gasped.

Enormous rocky hills rose all around us in wavy patterns, red and orange and yellow and brown. I'd never seen anything like it.

"Never seen a badlands biome before?" Sam grinned.

"I have to admit it's a lot cooler in real life than in just pictures," Jax said.

Jax shut the trapdoor we'd emerged from and kicked red sand over it until it was covered. Jax pulled out a compass, observed it for a moment, and then said, "South."

Reader, we spent way too long walking through the badlands. I'll admit that it was pretty cool at first, but after a while of seeing the same identical looking hills for a while got boring.

Eventually the clay and red sand turned to grass and gravel, and we left the badlands behind us. By that time, the sun had set completely.

And then, Outopia came into view.

I didn't see it at first because it was starting to become nighttime and was getting dark, but the fires were pretty hard to miss.

Outopia. A pearly white city that used to be perfect…was now ruined.

Even from this distance, the place looked like a mess. The tall white skyscrapers were riddled with holes, and half of them had been broken in half. Pillars of smoke rose into the sky from fires that looked redder than regular fire.

The city was still kind of impressive, though. The entire city was bigger than anything I'd ever seen, including Janlyn, Cratre, and even the Aether. I could see a lot of tall skyscrapers, even taller than the ones in the Aether.

"Oh, god." Sam murmured.

"We need to keep going," Jax said.

"How long ago did Outopia burn?" I whispered.

"A month ago." Jax sighed. "And the fires are still burning."

We walked past a large sign that had been burned so badly you couldn't see half the letters on the sign.

We ome to O t pia

Th Uto ia ou de rve

As we got farther into the city, the city really began to show it's scars. Buildings had been destroyed and burned to crisps. Fire still burned in areas on the streets, and glowing embers scattered across the road, dimly lighting the surrounding area.

One of the most unsettling details, though, was the complete silence. No wind. No rustling of dead bushes. Just the crackling of fire. It was a literal ghost town.

"This place gives me the creeps." Sam shivered.

Jax nodded grimly. "It is unnerving. But my question is, what business did Notch's reincarnation have being here?"

I looked around at the ruined city and frowned. "I guess we'll find out."

"If we even find the guy," Sam sighed. "This is a full on city we're talking about."

"And an empty city at that. It's not like we can ask around." Jax groaned. "Finding you in Janlyn was easier."

"That's because someone tried to kill you and it caught my eye," Sam pointed out. "It had nothing to do with you looking for me. It was just pure luck."

"Well, let's hope we get that same good luck again." I said.

Sam snorted. "Yeah, let's hope Jax gets attacked again so Notch's reincarnation can find him and save him."

Jax rolled his eyes, and then said, "By the way, are you finally starting to pronounce my name right?"

"Don't get your hopes up, Jekyll."

I snorted at Jax's annoyed expression.

"Seriously? Jekyll?"

"Anyways, what's the plan?" I asked.

Sam and Jax looked at each other.

"I think we should split up to cover more ground."

"What?" Sam exclaimed. "Jax, have you ever seen any type of horror media ever?"

"Well, I'm not really a fan of horror, so to speak—"

Sam groaned. "Come on, it's literally a universal rule! Never split up if you can help it!"

Jax frowned. "I think you're overreacting. Why would any pigmen be roaming around this city, anyways? It was burnt to the ground a month ago."

Sam threw her hands up in the air. "Don't you feel the vibe of this place? There's definitely a monster or two roaming this city!"

I blinked. "Sam, are you scared?"

"What? Me? Nooo." Sam scoffed. "I'd sooner be scared of a chipmunk. This place doesn't spook me at all."

"Let me reiterate—it's been a month since this city burned down."

"And maybe a monster moved in in that month!"

"Alright. Guys." I sighed. "Let's just split up, like Jax said. We'd cover more ground."

Sam stared at me. "Toni! I'd assumed at least you'd read a horror book before!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, it we're not exactly dumb and defenseless teens. We're pretty powerful."

"Says the girl with superpowers," Sam grumbled.

"You can use a bow better than anyone in Valaither, and you're afraid a few pigmen will come knock you down?" I asked.

"Well, no. I could take 'em…" Sam shot me a thumbs up. "You know, you're right! I'm not scared of anything! A few runty pigmen won't stop me!"

Jax looked at me, confused. "How'd you convince her?"

I shrugged. "It wasn't too hard."

"How'll we reach each other, though?" Sam asked.

Jax pulled out three small rectangles. "I brought these communicators. They're more simpler than phones, but you can send short messages with these. And these compasses. They'll let you see your coords."

I took one of the communicators, and a compass. The communicators kind of looked like a calculator, but with letters.

"How convenient," Sam hummed as she took hers. "Well, now that's settled let's go our separate ways."

"Is this the same girl that was disagreeing with me earlier?" Jax snorted. "Sure, let's go."

Jax went straight ahead, Sam went to the left, and I went to the right.

This specify really was enormous—there was no way I'd be able to search it all from the ground. I looked up at a nearby skyscraper.

Herobrine, can we teleport up there?

Not all the way to the top, but close enough.

There was a flash of bright blue, and yet I could still see everything that was happening around me.

The world was blurred bright blue, and suddenly I was standing near a broken window. I yelped and backed away from the window, because I was very high up and didn't want to die prematurely.

I stepped on something, and it crunched. I looked down and screamed upon seeing my foot in a skull. I staggered back, horrified.

I hope that's a skeleton's skull and not a human's.

I warily glanced over.

The inside of the skull was slimy.

"I'm going to be sick," I muttered.

After getting away from the skull, I quickly realized that coming up this skyscraper had been kind of pointless. Sure, I could almost see the entire city, but I couldn't even see a ravaged from up here, and definitely not a person.

But just in case, I looked out of all the windows in each direction. Who knew? Maybe the person we were looking for could have made a signal, or shot a flat into the sky. But that was just wishful thinking. After all, what would the odds be of me seeing something like that exactly at this time? There was no way—

Off in the distance, there was a loud explosion, and I jumped.

Off in the distance, I saw a small fireball stretch into the air. Only a few moments after, I saw a bright light shoot into the sky and then explode like a firework, sending sparks across the sky.

I heard Herobrine groan audibly. Really? I get you wanted to update quickly, but really? You couldn't have been more creative?

"Who are you talking to?" I said suspiciously.

Don't worry about it.

Instantly I heard a 'ping' come from my communicator, and I checked it.

Sam: did you guys hear that explosion?

Jax:Yeah, i heard it alright.

Jax: And I saw it too. It's pretty far though.

I quickly typed on the communicator. Did you guys see the firework, or the explosion?

Sam: i thought the firework made the explosion?

Jax: No, the explosion came before the firework.

Toni: I'm at the top of a really high skyscraper and saw an explosion not far from me.

Jax: You should go and investigate. What are the coords?

Toni: I'll tell you the coords when I get there.

?-?-?

I managed to teleport far enough down the building so I could jump from the skyscraper to the roof top of a smaller building without breaking my legs. I almost didn't make the jump, but teleported myself to the other side before I fell.

I began running to where the explosion had been,

Maybe you should slow down, Herobrine suggested. It's kind of dark.

"I need to get there as fast as possible," I panted, "or I might lose them."

As I jumped to another roof, I slipped, nearly falling thirty feet onto the ground below.

I decided to slow down, but just a little.

I finally got to the source of the explosion, and I could finally see from afar a burning building.

I jumped off the roof of a building, slid down a ladder, and landed on the ground with a thud.

In front of me was a skeleton of a building, burning bright in the dark neighborhood. I saw something glowing lightly in the dark, and I cautiously got closer.

It was an iron sword that looked worn and dented. There was a note plastered to the blade, and I peeled it off, reading it.

I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.

I will avenge you.

I looked at the note for a moment before sighing heavily and sitting down. Notch's reincarnation wasn't here. And if they had been, they weren't here anymore.

Coming here has been pointless.

I pulled out my communicator, ready to let the others know Notch's reincarnation hadn't been here when I spotted out of the corner of my eye something glinting as it sailed towards me.

The silvery thing slammed into the ground near me and exploded. The sound was shockingly loud, and I was briefly thrown into the air as the explosion blasted me backwards.

I landed hard on the concrete road, the air being driven from my lungs.

"Damn it, I almost had her!"

"This is why you leave the shooting to the pig with both eyes."

I stumbled to my feet, my ears ringing. I staggered around, trying to find my bearings. I glanced around, looking for my communicator. I found it several feet away, completely melted in the flames of the explosion.

A bunch of pigmen appeared from behind buildings and broken streetlights. One of them held what looked like a long black cylinder, the end of it smoking.

Is...that a rocket launcher?

I glanced around. I was completely surrounded. One of them stepped forwards. He opened his mouth.

Watch this, Herobrine said. He's going to say 'we've been expecting you'.

"We've been expecting you," the pigman sneered.

Called it.

"Not the time, Brian!"

Are you going to call me Herobrine or Brian? Seriously, make up your mind.

"Again, not the time!"

"Listen, kid, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." the pigman sneered. "So come with us. Don't be dumb."

I laughed, surprising them. "Where'd you learn that line? The academy for aspiring bad guys? Listen. I'm not in a good mood right now, but I'm willing to let some of you live because I really don't care enough to fight."

The pigman in front of me scoffed. "As if we'd leave so easily. Are you scared, maybe?"

And then suddenly, I heard a low, dark voice come from behind the pigman. "Your bravado is disgusting."

As the pigman turned, a blond girl stepped out of the burning building. Like, she *stepped out* of the burning building. Completely unharmed.

She looked to be about my age, with long golden hair and different colored eyes. One gold, the other leaf green. She wore a dark red jacket with gold buttons, like the kind the royal guard would wear. Under the jacket she had on a white shirt covered in black soot, and tan colored jeans with tears in them. Multi colored potions clattered on her belt.

She clenched a gold pen in her hand, which I saw was trembling. With anger, perhaps?

She glanced to where the iron sword had been embedded. It had completely melted into the ground.

The pigman laughed. "And who are you supposed to be? What are you going to do, write on m-"

Before he could finish mocking her, the girl dashed forward, a golden blur. And with that, she stabbed the pen into the pigman's cheek. As the pigman yelled in pain, the girl clicked the end of the pen, and the pen suddenly elongated into a spear, shooting through the pigman's head.

I gaped as the pigman poofed into a cloud of dust, and the girl swung the spear onto her back and unsheathed two daggers from nowhere, each blade the length of her forearms.

"Anyone want what he got?" the girl said.

The pigmen looked at each other, looking nervous.

But the girl didn't even give them a chance to speak before running in, swinging her knives and cutting through several pigmen in an instant.

I stood there, stunned, when one of the pigmen lunged for me with their sword. I snapped out of it and managed to dodge the first swing, pointing my palm at the pigman and blasting him into next week with a bolt of lightning.

The pigman with the rocket launcher panicked and frantically tried to reload, but before he could the girl flipped a gold sword into the air with her foot and then kicked it as it fell, sending the sword flying into the barrel of the rocket launcher. It exploded, taking out an entire line of pigmen.

Me and the girl fought together, our diamond and gold blades tearing into the pigmen relentlessly. We fought wildly, and then suddenly there was nothing left of the pigmen but dust.

I blew out a long breath. "Woo. That was close. Well, I could have taken them on my own, but, you know." I turned, only to find her spear aimed at my chest.

"Who are you?" the girl hissed.

"Whoa, whoa." I raised my hands. "I'm no enemy. I'm..." I paused, wondering how much I should disclose.

This girl was obviously the reincarnation of Notch. After all, she'd walked through that fire like it had been nothing, and her fighting skill was exceptional. She might have even been better than Jax, or me.

But that was no guarantee. For all I knew, she could be my enemy.

"I'm Toni Deniara. You know what I said earlier? I don't think I'm your enemy, but that might change depending on who you are." I said.

I hope that wasn't too much. Or too little.

The girl studied me for a moment, and then lowered her spear slightly. "Do you work for anyone?"

"I don't," I answered truthfully. "Do you?"

The girl considered the question. "Mm. Technically, yes."

"Is it Klith?"

The girl's gaze hardened and she pressed her spear harder against my chest. "Ask that again. I dare you."

"So that's a no," I muttered. "Then who do you work fo—"

"No, no, no." the girl cut in. "It's my turn. What are you really?"

"I already told you."

"I don't mean your name," the girl said as if I was an idiot. "I said what are you? You fought pretty well, though not as good as me. And don't think I didn't see that lightning you fired."

I hesitated, wondering if I should tell her.

Just tell her. If she's an enemy, you can just teleport out of there.

"You sure about that one, buddy?" I muttered to myself.

The girl narrowed her eyes. "Who are you talking to?"

"Just a voice," I said, and then winced. "Ooh. Now I look crazy."

Why'd you respond out loud? Just think at me.

Ignoring Herobrine, I drew myself to my full height (even though the girl was taller than me) and said, "I'm the reincarnation of Herobrine. Now it's my turn. Who—or what—are you?"

The girl studied me before swinging her spear onto her back. "The name's Cara Goldenfeather. I am Notch's reincarnation. And if you are telling the truth…come with me. Unless you want to die, of course."

Dun dun dun.

Sorry for the late chapter, I rewrote Cara's intro scene a lot because I wanted it to really show her character and because I wanted the vibe to be specific.

…okay, that's bull crap. I just got lazy.

But I actually am really excited to introduce Cara, because I've been thinking up her character long before I even got to writing this reboot.

Also in case you were wondering, the letters on the burnt sign read:

Welcome to Outopia

The Utopia you deserve

Yeah, that aged badly.

Sooo, yeah. That's it.

Have a nice rest of your week! Krios