Cheating Death
Her heart was beating like a military drum. Fitting, considering what was about to commence.
Bow in hand, Alex delved deeper and deeper into the woodland mansion's labyrinthine interior. A maelstrom of emotions was swirling within her stomach. Fear was one such emotion. Conviction was another. It was thanks to the latter that she kept going.
The clicking of her boots echoed down the hall, as she finally entered the map room. It was there, where she found him. The mastermind behind all the horrific experiments the villagers and the other illagers spoke of.
The Ravagers. The Vexes. The totems… She shuddered at the mere recollection.
"So… You've come."
The Evoker was looking out the window. It was a beautiful day in the roofed forest. The sun was shining brightly, sending down its rays to kiss the treetops. The wind was frolicking in the grass, weaving between the trunks, and jumping from one branch to the next.
"I take it you've learned the truth?" he queried, not looking back.
"...I have."
"And what do you plan to do about it?"
Alex cast her fear aside, and readied her weapon.
"What should have been done a long time ago."
It was truly a beautiful day. A shame he was going to have to sully it in such a grotesque manner.
"After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me?"
"It doesn't have to come down to that."
Silence ensued. The Evoker still hadn't met Alex's gaze.
"...You're such a fool. Do you think there's anything you can do to stop me?"
In response to that, Alex let an arrow fly. The window shattered.
"Don't push my limits," she warned.
In the blink of an eye, the Evoker spun around and outstretched his arm. A row of jaws emerged from the floor, and burrowed its way towards the target.
Alex hopped out of the way, but not fast enough; her left ankle got caught in the attack, causing her to fall down. Once the jaws dissipated, she was left clutching her leg, teeth gritted.
"A shame. You're probably the last of your kind, too. It's unfortunate that the lineage of the great builders will end with someone so pathetic."
The Evoker's hands took a purple glow, and the row of jaws reappeared. This time, Alex was prepared.
She jumped as high as she could, and placed a dirt block beneath her feet. The fangs harmlessly chomped down on it, before dissipating. In the meantime, Alex fired another arrow. It skewered the Evoker's forearm. He retracted it, cringing in pain.
From atop the dirt block, Alex continued firing, yet her aim was not true.
"Enough meandering," the Evoker said. "I shall show you the fruits of my labor."
He raised a hand, which glowed a dull grayish white. Three Vexes were summoned, wearing sinister expressions.
"After her."
The wisps that were once pure and benevolent unsheathed their blades. The torture they had endured fueled their rage, and pushed them to lash out against the target their master had pointed them to.
Alex had to weave, roll, and jump away from the specters, all while trying to ignore her previous injury, and looking for a way to land a hit on the Evoker, who was laughing with mirth at her struggle. She earned quite a few nicks for her troubles.
The Vexes' assault raged on, and Alex was slowly starting to grow tired. She had to finish this as swiftly as possible.
She charged at the Evoker, who was preparing another spell. Being ready for it, Alex placed another dirt block, and jumped off of it. In mid air, she unsheathed her own sword. The momentum helped her deliver a critical blow. The Evoker collapsed.
"Please…" Alex said, "Don't force my hand."
Once the Vexes faded away, only silence remained. Through the sound of her beating heart, she could hear the Evoker's labored breaths. In the blink of an eye, he raised his hand once more. Alex had anticipated something like that, so she reacted quickly.
The final blow had been delivered… At least, that's what it seemed like at first, until a white glow engulfed the illager. It was a glow so bright, Alex had to shield her eyes. She hadn't noticed it at first, but her foe was holding a Totem of Undying. That's what was emitting all the light.
Once the brightness died down, the Evoker stood upright, completely unscathed, much to his opponent's shock.
He opened his eyes, which were now as white as a Vex's, and cast the now useless gold artifact aside.
"My research…shall not be spoiled by the likes of you."
Before Alex could think twice, a massive jaw sprung up from directly beneath her. She let out a gasp of surprise, as its rigid teeth slowly and relentlessly closed in on her torso, gradually digging into her flesh.
"Can you feel it? The power this totem gives me? Not even the Wither can stand up to me now."
Alex found herself unable to scream, as the jaw clenched harder.
"How do you expect me to give it up?"
"..."
The Evoker frowned.
"Pitiful. I won't waste my magic on you. I shall dispose of you with my bare hands."
The attack faded away. With nothing left to support her, Alex landed on the hard wooden floor.
…
The feeling of landing face first on a hard surface wasn't foreign to her. That didn't mean it was any less humiliating. Groaning, Alex tried to push herself up, spitting out a mouthful of grass in the process.
"Maybe I'm just not cut out for this…" she admitted with defeat.
"Nonsense," came a deep, masculine voice from behind her. It was gentle and tender, in spite of its slight coarseness. It made her think of home.
"You are stronger than you know."
A steady hand slid into view, and helped her get back on her feet. As her gaze trailed upwards, she saw… him, again. The man's well carved face had brought to her a sense of familiarity each time she recalled it, but it was only then when Alex remembered why.
He was her partner.
"I know that if you put your mind into it, you can do amazing things, Alex."
He held her hand, and she smiled, in spite of herself.
"You think so?"
He chuckled.
"Of course."
…
'...Steve… I have to do this for your sake, too… don't I?'
Although her body was wounded, Alex's spirit had never been so fierce. She jabbed the floor with her sword, which she used as a way of supporting herself. Seeing her getting up, the Evoker, who was already walking towards her, scowled.
"Have you made it your mission to die as painfully as possible?"
Alex spared no time on petty retorts. Instead, she readied her stance, and tried to formulate a plan to finish the battle as quickly as possible.
"Hmph. Have it your way."
The Evoker unleashed another one of his attacks. Alex evaded it, by hopping onto the grand table that the map was resting upon.
Unable to reach her, the Evoker resorted to summoning another Vex. Alex readied herself, and took a deep breath. This was exactly what she had hoped he would do.
She knew this plan could fail, but she'd be damned if she wouldn't at least give it a shot.
As the Vex circled around her like a wolf ready to pounce at its victim, she took a thorough look at its face. This one had only recently been converted. She called its name, having recognized the Allay it used to be.
The spirit froze.
"I know you may not recognize me," she began calmly, "but we used to be friends."
The Evoker, frustrated by the sudden halt the fight was brought to, cut in.
"Do not listen to her lies. Finish her."
"Your real enemy is standing right behind you. He's the one who did this to you."
The Vex, being faced with a barrage of mixed signals, began shaking in rage.
"I have done nothing but help you reclaim the power that was once yours. Use it." The irritation in the Evoker's voice was audible, no matter how fiercely he tried to mask it.
The two sides quieted down, while the Vex's little heart was being ravaged by the dilemma. Alex kept staring at it stoically, while the Evoker's lips had formed a thin line.
Sensing his powers slowly diminishing, he broke down first.
"Do it! Now!"
It was as if a lever had been pulled. The Vex zoomed right up to the Evoker, and plunged its sword straight through his torso. A choking sound escaped his throat, and he dropped to his knees from the shock.
The turmoil and the fatigue had drained all the life energy the Vex had left. As a result, it pulled out its blade, and faded away, as its short life came to an end.
Still unable to take a breath, the Evoker dug his hands into the folds of his cloak, desperately trying to find something. A gold shimmer amidst the black fabric caught Alex's eye.
She dashed right up to her foe, and with one well placed slash, she cut the second totem in half, right as it was starting to glow.
The brightness did not regress, however. The same process as before unfolded before Alex's eyes, and she took a couple steps back. Had she been too slow?
'I can't keep this up…'
In the end, though, her fears were not validated. Instead of coming face to face with her former mentor, she found nothing but a dry, broken husk. Its charred skin shared some similarities to a wither skeleton. Were she to look very closely, she might have been able to spot some semblance of what the Evoker once looked like.
His hands began glowing. A line of dull teeth slowly made its way toward her. Alex walked around it without a second thought, and reached his reanimated remains once again.
Her eyes met his hollow eye sockets, and she pointed her sword at him.
"Goodbye."
She delivered the finishing blow by piercing his skull. Instantly, her vision turned a faint, almost grayish purple.
Pain overwhelmed her senses, as the Evoker's remains laughed coarsely. Torturous though it felt, the pain went away after a moment, once the Evoker's body turned to smoke.
Alex collapsed, nearly to the point of losing consciousness. She failed to notice that her hands were emitting that same purple light…
A white void, white as a sheet, stretched on and on, as far as the eye could see.
The Evoker's eyes fluttered, and he tried to get back on his feet. A pounding headache made him clutch his forehead.
Confused, he looked around. What was this? Where was this? He took a step. His boot clicked against an unseen floor. The sound echoed all around him.
He walked and walked, yet nothing changed.
"Greetings," came a gentle, somewhat deep feminine voice. Bewildered, the Evoker turned around.
He was met with a hazy outline, one which got more clear as time went on. His eyes snapped open, as he managed to distinguish the figure that was now floating before him.
A spinal cord, a ribcage, and three skulls. All black as coal. The only aspect of its appearance that wasn't dark in color, were its eye sockets, which were glowing white.
"We trust you know who we are?"
There was oral tradition, written tradition, and even scientific reports, all centered around this horrid entity. It is said that its power was so atrocious, so overwhelming, so inconceivable, that it had earned it quite a few titles.
'The Beginning', 'Death', 'Judgement', and even 'God of Destruction', to name a few. The entity's real name, however, was 'The Wither'.
"You seem surprised," the right skull noted. "Is something troubling you?"
No coherent words managed to leave the Evoker's lips.
"Calm yourself. There's no need to be afraid," it continued in its soothing tone. The entity's ribcage was expanding and contracting with each word the right skull said.
"We shall explain to you what happened, just in case you've forgotten. You were killed. Three times, to be precise."
"Ha ha, that's right," the left skull chimed in. "Despite all the lengths you went through, in the end, here you stand before us. Third time is indeed the charm."
The left skull's masculine voice had an undertone of malice to it that made the Evoker's hair stand on its end. While the right skull's role was to bring comfort to its victims during their final moments, the left skull's was to torment them.
"You're a rather privileged individual. Not every soul gets an audience with us. You are… ha ha… a truly special occasion."
"Noah. Do you know why you are here?"
He pondered for a moment. Was it because of his feats? His ambitions? His abilities?
…
"You have sinned."
The Evoker's eyes snapped open.
"Wh-what?"
"Don't act coy," said the other skull. "You're not the first mortal to meet us, but you are the only mortal that has managed to defy our vision. You know which one that would be, don't you?"
Anything that lives, at one point or another, must die. That was the Wither's grand vision for this world. It's what led them to destroy the Sky dimension.
"You thought you were above the consequences. You thought yourself almighty. You thought you could play god. Learn this. Others, much stronger than yourself, thought the same way. They all suffered the repercussions of their arrogance."
The Evoker was trembling, not even daring to think of what would follow. He raised his hand at the deity, only to remember that he had practically bequeathed his powers to that woman. The Wither cackled.
"You, too, will be punished."
The Evoker broke into a mad dash. He ran as fast as he could, yet the deity's laughter grew louder and louder.
Wither skeletons materialized out of nothing, and seized his forearms before he could pass them by. His skin stung at the mere touch.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'll repent, please spare me, I'm begging you!"
In response, the middle skull - the biggest of the three, awakened. No man nor animal could speak in a voice that matched its own.
"Foolish sinner. As retribution for your crimes, you shall become one with the sea of souls. Your screams shall echo for eternity, and everything that makes you yourself shall fade away into nothingness!"
The Evoker cried out in denial, as his vision turned to black.
…
Somewhere, in the depths of the Nether, a new block of soul sand took shape, next to countless others.