Home sweet home
As soon as she got to the other side, an unusually warm but welcoming wind greeted Aurora, but which, as she quickly realized, was the only beautiful thing about the Overworld.
The sun had disappeared, and the sky had taken on an eerie red-orange hue, with dark black clouds passing overhead and strange black particles rising from the ground before disappearing into nothingness again.
Even the houses around the place where the portal was standing, appeared abandoned, looking as if they had all been struck by multiple explosions. Aurora's heart froze as she observed the burnt and destroyed walls and roofs, realizing that even if there where people around,no one would be able to live in them anymore.
But that was by far not the worst.
The worst were the bodies!
Countless blood-soaked bodies, dozens of them, all of people of various ages, lay everywhere on the ground, some still with the weapons in their bodies that had taken their lives...
Aurora felt sick to the stomach, as she looked at the whole massacre, and suddenly feld a deep desire, just turn around and run back into the Nether, to escape all of this horror.
Something she had thought a few weeks ago that nothing would ever make her do that...
But she knew she couldn't go back.
Not only because she had a duty as a soldier to fulfill to her country and her ruler, but also because of her sister and also because it would go completly against what Nuka would have wanted.
Aurora's heart painfully tightened as she thought of the boy with the sad eyes who had stood by the river and who had such a terrible life, but despite that still spoke so gently and kindly with her.
Who would have thought that she could empathize so much with a hybrid?
A loud, shrill scream made her startle, and her focus returned to the present!
Her head jumped up and she was startled to find that the shadows with red eyes, the same ones that had chased her during her first escape through the city, were now dozens on the square and had spotted them, before rushing towards them with drawn weapons!
"Run! Now!" she heard Jason shout a second later, that already jumped down from the small platform where the portal stood, followed by Aurora and the others, zigzagging across the square to evade the shadows, hoping to reach at least one of the houses, before the shadows catch up on them!
But they didn't get anywhere close to that...
They weren't even halfway across the place before they were surrounded by the creatures, that now started attacking with full force, ready to kill them!
Aurora heard the cries of her companions, mixing with the hissing and screeching of the shadows, but she had no time to look around to see if they were ok!
She already had to use all her skills in sword fighting to keep these monsters at bay, even though she knew all too well that it was futile.
No matter how many arms or legs she severed or how many bodies she cut through, the shadows quickly regenerated and attacked again without hesitation, without showing even the slightest sign of pain.
Just like it had been during Null's takeover of the city...
The only difference was that they now wore significantly stronger enchanted armor, which was the only reason they hadn't fallen yet.
But it was only a matter of time until one of them got injured, making this fight quickly come to an end, which was becoming more likely the longer they were stuck in one place!
If we don't run out of strength or stumble over our own feet first! flashed through Aurora's mind as she continued to step back, almost slipping on the blood-stained ground!
Whether the blood was already there or came from one of her friends, however, she couldn't say.
In that moment, she felt sweat dripping from her forehead, panting under the strain.
Even the sword, which had felt quite light just a moment ago, now seemed incredibly heavy and made her arms tremble.
We have to do something! Aurora added desperately as she took another step back, trying to fend off waves after waves of creatures despite her exhaustion. Otherwise, it's over for us!
In the next second, she suddenly bumped into something with her back, causing her to lose concentration for a moment.
But that moment was one moment too long...
A sharp pain in her right leg made her scream before she dropped her sword, her leg collapsed under the weight!
Frantically, she tried to get up again, but the pain was too intense!
Frightened and in tears, she curled up on the floor and tried to shield her head from any attacks!
But before something worse could happen to her, a loud shout echoed, followed by a surge of water that engulfed her!
Most of shadows immediately dissolved with a loud scream, while the rest also screamed and staggered and stumbled around, their bodies partially hit by the water slowly dissolving, accompanied by a strange hissing.
But before Aurora could further contemplate the scene, a few more surges of water broke over them, causing that the remaining shadows to disappear as well, whereupon the place, which had just been so crowded and loud, now was surprisingly quiet and deserted.
Aurora immediately looked around for her companions and her sister, concern etched on her face!
The first person she spotted was Jason, kneeling with Steve on his back, head lowered, and supporting himself with his sword.
He, too, was breathing heavily and seemed visibly exhausted, although otherwise uninjured, despite missing parts of his armor.
Steve also appeared unharmed, as did Einshine, who stood with his back to Aurora, sadly surveying his tattered cloak.
"Oh my Notch! Aurora!" her sister's familiar voice called out in that moment. Roxana soon appeared in her line of sight, looking worriedly at her bloody leg. "What happened?! Are you okay?"
She was pale and seemed distraught, trembling slightly as she knelt down, attempting to heal the wound with her magic.
She aslo had a few small cuts on her face and arms, and the hem of her dress was torn, but otherwise, she seemed unharmed, which relieved Aurora greatly. In response to Roxana's question, she just nodded absentmindedly, her gaze now fixed on a group of six unfamiliar Minecrafters, both civilian and soldiers judging by their clothing.
They stood not far from them, each holding an empty bucket and looking at them quite seriously.
Apparently, the city was not entirely abandoned.
"That was close," Jason said relieved in that moment, quite soaked like everyone else, before standing up and looked at their saviors with a grateful glance. "Thank you! Without... without you, we would have been..."
"Dead?" interrupted one of the Minecrafters, a young man with light hair and wore partial diamond armor, looking at him seriously. "Yes, probably."
"But we don't have time to talk or ask questions!", he continued quickly ,,Those things will be back soon if the Withers don't notice us before!"
Wait what?! Aurora thuoght alarmed, but before she could ask more, the guy had already turned around and disappeared across the square with a quick "follow me!"
Since they didn't really have a choice, they followed him as fast as they could through the narrow streets of the city until they suddenly stopped at the end of a small alley.
"Down here!" the leader said a short moment later, pointing at something that Aurora couldn't see due to the many people in front of her.
However, they strangely started disappearing one by one until Aurora had a clear view of a small iron trapdoor, well-hidden behind a few crates, opened and leading down into the city's sewer system.
Aurora couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at the thought of having to go down there, but anything was better than staying up here and dealing with more shadows, let alone Withers.
Provided they were safe down there as well.
Hoping that would prove to be true, she obediently climbed down the makeshift ladder and found herself in a small, long tunnel made of mossy and brittle stone bricks.
In the middle, a small channel carried somewhat unpleasant-smelling water, but Aurora tried not to pay it much attention to it.
Several torches were attached to the walls, which had to light up to prevent mobs from appearing and attacking the city from below.
Aurora scrutinized them grimly.
While these torches were good for preventing mobs, they also made it a hiding place for small-time criminals and other wrongdoers, wich resulted in the guards having to come down again and again to hunt them down—a challenging task given that the tunnels moved all under the city, and no one knew the exact plans.
All in all , it was something, that Aurora had hated for all of her life.
"Okay, we should be safe here for now," declared the leader, who had just descended from the ladder and now appeared much more relaxed. "Are you all okay?"
"More or less," Jason replied with a nervous glance at Steve, who still seemed very sleepy and nit really aware of what was going on, before turning back to him. "Thanks again for saving us."
"Oh, no problem," the guy responded with a smile. "That's what we're here for."
You are? Aurora wondered, but before she could ask, the guy turned away again and gestured for them to follow.
"Come on. It's not far to the camp."
"Wait! We can't leave yet!" Roxana suddenly exclaimed, grabbing Aurora's arm and looking around in panic. "We... we're missing Einshine!"
"Who?" the guy asked, confused, while Aurora also looked around and realized with worry that the Griefer was really no longer with them!
But where did he go? she wondered as she searched for him. Did he lose us? But we haven't gone far; he couldn't possibly have lost us in just a few meters, could he?
"Yes, he's a... a friend of ours!" Roxana quickly explained. "He was just with us a moment ago..."
"Well, even if that's true," their savior replied with a sigh, "we can't go back up and look. It's too dangerous. We can only hope that another patrol finds him and takes him with them, but for now, he's on his own."
"Don't worry, Einshine will find his us for sure," Aurora whispered reassuringly to her sister, who stood with shoulders slumped and still looked concerned, to which Roxana only sighed sadly.
"Hopefully, you're right," she murmured quietly before joining the guy and his group, through a series of damp tunnels with stagnant air, dim light, but without a trace of the shadows or other things that could harm them.
One can't blame them for staying away from this place, thought Aurora grimly just as another of the countless drops continuously falling from the ceiling hit her. I wouldn't want to come down here either if I had another choice...
I wonder why they actually don't come down here? she pondered further. They're seem so eager to kill us that I doubt even such an unpleasant environment would stop them.
At that moment, the leader of their small group stopped in front of a completely unremarkable wall before tapping on it several times in a peculiar sequence, wich made Aurora briefly wonder if he had lost his mind when it suddenly opened, revealing a secret passage guarded on the other side by two sentinels in heavily enchanted diamond armor.
Before Aurora could examine them closely, hoping to recognize one of her friends, another cascade of cold water poured over them!
She gasped in surprise and looked indignantly toward their leader, but he just shrugged.
"Sorry, but that's one of our security measures," he quickly apologized, noticing the annoyed looks of her friends, who also seemed less than pleased with the additional shower.
"But don't worry," he added with a smile, "you'll warm up soon."
With these words, he turned around and led them through more passages and tunnels, still made of stone bricks but now higher, with walls adorned with rusty iron doors.
To Aurora's surprise, a few people actually came out of these doors, though they mostly seemed to be soldiers, who were carring wapons and amor and looked quite serious.
Unfortunately, none of them paid attention to them, and regrettably, none of them seemed familiar.
However, as they progressed, the smell of sewage diminished, and it began to get warmer.
Not the stifling, unpleasant warmth that accompanied them through the sewage tunnels, but a pleasant, cozy warmth one experiences sitting in front of a fireplace or campfire.
Along with the warmth, more and more people appeared, varying in age and looking more civilian and relaxed, which pleased Aurora.
The warmth was soon accompanied by the sounds of many people, and they suddenly entered a large hall so vast that Aurora couldn't see the ceiling, wich was supported by several pillars.
It seemed to be one of the overflow basins the city used to protect itself from large floods, although Aurora had never seen one before.
Tables and benches were scattered everywhere, occupied by various Minecrafters eating or chatting, while others hurried through and disappeared into one of the countless corridors leading away from the hall.
Here too, torches were placed on the walls and pillars throughout, softly illuminating the room and some of Steve's banners, hanging on the otherwise bare walls of the hall, making it more welcome.
However, most of the warmth seemed to come from three lava pools arranged in the middle of the hall and protected by a small wall to prevent anyone from accidentally falling in.
All in all, it didn't look like an overflow basin should normally look, but Aurora was more than happy about it.
After all the suffering and desolation, she was more than delighted to finally see something that felt more comfortable and resembled a home.
I wonder how people managed to bring all this down here, she thought, but before she could ponder it further, the face of their leader brightened, and he enthusiastically waved towards a crowd gathered around one of the lava pools, apparently in the midst of a discussion.
"Alex! Hey! Look! I still found some!" he joyfully called a moment later as he ran towards them, gesturing for Aurora and the others to follow him.
Confused and uneasy, now that so many eyes were on them, Aurora and the others followed him towards the group, which had fallen silent and turned towards them, revealing a young woman in her twenties standing with several papers in hand. She seemed as surprised as they were.
The first thing Aurora noticed about her was her green tunic and brown pants with matching worn-out boots. She had a bow with a quiver and a corresponding sword sheath on her belt, giving her the appearance of one of the many adventurers, that were traveling through Minecraftia, always in search of the next adventure.
"Incredible," she muttered a moment later, tossing her tousled reddish hair, which was hastily tied at the end, over her shoulder, while she curiously surveyed them with her green eyes. "Really good, Anthony. I didn't think anyone down here would actually manage to find someone."
She smiled.
"Greetings," she introduced herself a moment later, extending her hand. "I'm Alex. I lead our little rebellion down here. Perhaps you've heard of it."
"Well, um..." Roxana replied hesitantly as she step over to shake hands "Actually, we are..."
"Alex?" Aurora turned around, looking surprised at Steve, who had now raised his head and was staring at the young woman with wide eyes. "Is it... is it really you?"
Alex didn't immediately respond; just looking at him with confusion, something Aurora couldn't blame her for.
Even for her, it would have been challenging to equate this frail and weak man with the god of the sky.
However, a moment later, her face brightened, quickly turning into shock and concern as she took a step forward, now scrutinizing him with a much more worried gaze.
"Steve?"