Here's the next chapter! There's a bit of a time jump between now and the last one. Hope you all enjoy!


The months that followed Ellegaard's death had been eventful, to say the least.

Jesse and her friends had managed to defeat the Witherstorm and destroy the command block once and for all with the assistance of the monster's creator, Ivor. A week later, the group was titled "The New Order of the Stone" by Gabriel the Warrior himself and what followed for the new group of heroes were new adventures, friends, and discoveries.

Of course, not everything had been fixed quite yet.

Soren cautiously trekked through the streets of Boomtown, careful not to run into anyone yielding TNT or any other explosives. He periodically hid behind walls and in allies to not be noticed by the griefers that roamed the chaotic kingdom. The last thing he wanted was to be prevented from reaching Magnus, there was something important that needed to be discussed with him.

As Soren continued with his journey, he began to feel a sense of dread build up in his gut; he hadn't seen Magnus, or anyone for that matter, for at least a few months. During the battle with the Witherstorm, Soren cowardly ran off to his laboratory in The End and had been hiding in shame there ever since.

During his months of isolation, Soren had time to repair his flooded laboratory and reflect on his actions. He'd begun to regret how he had left everyone in the dust and began wanting to try and make things right. So, the architect had spent the last few months researching and preparing a surprise for Magnus, Gabriel, and Ivor.

The hardest part would be getting them to hear him out.

Eventually, after about an hour of searching and avoiding the constant destruction taking place, Soren reached the doors of Magnus's tower. It wasn't easy with all of the griefers running around destroying everything, and because (despite how Magnus was technically no longer the town's "king") the griefer had still located his home in an area with plenty of traps.

The architect winced as he took out an arrow that was lodged in his ankle from one of the many traps set up in the area.

"I don't understand why Magnus would go through all this trouble just to keep people out," Soren complained. When he finally took out the arrow and put it in his inventory, Soren stared at the metal doors.

All there was left to do was knock.

He formed a fist, but before he could even touch the door, Soren stopped. The architect stared at the door for nearly a minute before he faced the ground and rested a hand on the back of his neck.

"What am I doing? He probably doesn't want to be anywhere near me after that stunt I pulled!" he said to himself.

He began to pace back and forth, fiddling with his gloves, thinking about all of the things that could go wrong if he were to enter. Soren put his face in his hands and gave a frustrated groan. He turned back to see the double doors, still as ever.

Soren gripped his armor and sighed. "I have to tell him, otherwise I did all this research and planning for nothing." He walked to the doors, straightened his back, and closed his eyes.

"Don't be a coward, Soren," and he pounded on the iron doors.

Soren stood for a minute as nobody answered; finally, the doors opened by themselves. The architect hesitated for a moment before walking in. The floor beneath him disappeared before Soren could get a decent look at the inside. He fell through a small hole and landed on his face in another room. Soren lifted his head and put a hand on his lower back in pain.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here, Soren."

The familiar voice sent a chill down Soren's spine. He sat up to see Magnus standing by a machine with levers. He wasn't wearing his armor, which was peculiar, and he wore a stern expression on his face.

Soren sat in silence for a few seconds before collecting himself and standing up.

"Magnus I-"

"Don't say it." Magnus interrupted, putting up a hand to signal stop. He looked to the side and clenched his fist. "If you think you can just waltz in without being invited, then you've got another thing coming!"

Soren frowned and took a step forward, "Magnus, please, let me explain."

Magnus glared at Soren and stamped his foot. "No, you're gonna listen to me! What you did back there was beyond stupid and cowardly, and trust me, I know a thing or two about being a coward!" The griefer looked away and picked at the buttons on his suit. "You could've gotten yourself killed, do you realize that? We just lost Ellegaard and then we could have lost you too!"

Magnus stopped talking, his eyes began to look misty but he quickly pulled himself together. "How could you do that to us?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Soren walked closer to Magnus, "You're absolutely right! What I did was foolish; using the command block, not telling you all about it, convincing everyone to keep the Ender Dragon battle a secret, and running away twice!" The architect looked down in shame, "I know I can never take back what I did, but I returned because I want to make things right."

Magnus shook his head and began to walk away. "What could you possibly do or say to convince me?" the griefer sighed, "Look, I don't have the energy for this so can you do both of us a favor and just-"

"I know where she is, Magnus!" Soren shouted.

Magnus stopped in his tracks and his expression shifted to confusion.

"What?"

"Ellegaard, I know how we could bring her back!" Soren explained.

Magnus turned around and stared at Soren. "The hell do you mean by 'bring her back'? In case you forgot, she died; you were there, remember?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm aware, but I've discovered a phenomenon… if you will. It's a bit complicated, but I believe Ellegaard might have been sent somewhere else when she died." Soren replied.

Magnus closed his eyes and put a hand to his forehead. Had Soren driven himself mad during his disappearance? The griefer always considered the architect to be a bit… eccentric, even before the Order split up, but what he was insinuating was absurd; even to Magnus!

"What do you mean she was sent somewhere else? You're not making any sense!"

Soren sighed and brought out a small yellow map that looked to be quite old.

"I've heard about a phenomenon where a recently deceased individual's soul can be sent to an alternate realm and thus be revived. The realm is like The End or the Nether, except its portal is opened through a spell rather than through building or finding it. They say the spell that opens the portal to the realm lies hidden in an abandoned temple."

Soren handed the map to Magnus; he was hesitant at first, but the griefer opened and scanned it. Though it was obvious the map was at least a few centuries old, yellowed along with some small tears in the corners of the paper, the image of the pathway leading to the temple was crystal clear.

Magnus looked up at Soren. "Where did you find this?"

Soren awkwardly chuckled and scratched his neck, "It took a while, but I managed to find it deep in an archive located out of town," he shifted his gaze to Magnus, "but that's beside the point; if we can find the spell and enter the realm, then we can bring Ellegaard back to our dimension! If she was caught up in the phenomenon, of course."

Magnus didn't respond, he turned away and continued to examine the map. Could this be true, was it possible for them to bring Ellegaard back? Then again, could he even trust Soren after what happened during the Witherstorm battle? Not to mention the possibility that Ellegaard may have been sent to the afterlife after all.

Soren took note of Magnus's hesitance and frowned, "Magnus, I am aware that I'm probably the last person that you want to see, and I know that this is a lot to take in but-" he paused mid-sentence taking a deep breath, squeezing his hands together, "there's a chance that we can get her back, but for this to work, I'm going to need all the help I can get."

His face began to feel warm and the architect looked down at his feet, "Just let me do this one thing. After everything is said and done and you still want nothing to do with me, I'll respect that."

Magnus looked towards Soren; the two remained silent as neither of them knew what to say. Soren continued to look to the ground and clenched his pants with his hands, trying to swallow the lump that was clogging his throat.

Magnus finally broke the silence. "Soren, it's gonna take me a bit to trust you again after everything that happened," he handed him back the map, "but I don't want our friendship to be like this, and I want to help. I want Ellegaard back and if it means that I have to travel to an ancient temple and face a mysterious realm, I'll do it!" he stated determinedly.

Soren was stunned for a moment but gave him a small smile, "Do you mean it?"

Magnus nodded, "Of course just," he paused and looked away, "no more running away, please?"

The architect gave his old friend a reassuring nod, "I promise. I've had enough of being a coward for a lifetime," he stated with a slight chuckle.

Magnus took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips. "Alright, so what do we need to do next?" he asked.

Soren thought to himself for a moment. "Have you seen Gabriel recently? I was hoping that he would come along." he scratched the back of his neck, "Plus, I wanted to apologize to him for the… incident as well."

Magnus nodded. "Yeah, we've been keeping in touch. He just finished rebuilding his fortress after the Witherstorm… destroyed it." His voice shifted to a somewhat saddened tone when he brought up the Witherstorm. Soren seemed to pick up on this and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you doing alright, Magnus? I know a bit of time has passed since… everything but-" he was about to finish before the griefer shook his head and interrupted.

"Hey, I'm fine! Just let me put on my armor, gather some stuff, and get a move on if we wanna make it to Gabriel's before night falls." Magnus pulled a switch that revealed a separate room in the building before looking back at Soren. "Wait here, okay?"

Soren smiled and nodded. "Of course, Magnus. Take your time!" he said as the other entered the opening. However, his smile gradually faded and he looked off into the distance.

"I just hope Gabriel can find it in his heart to forgive me," Soren expressed sadly as he put the map back in his inventory.


Let me know what you all think! The next chapter is going to feature Gabriel, so stay tuned!