Chapter 25: Floating Dream
We stepped deeper into the lush cavern. Eva pointed to a specific plant that somewhat resembled a lily pad, except its stem had sprung up through the water, suspending the leaf as a result.
"These are called 'dripleaves'. They can serve as a temporary platform. Here."
She stepped on a nearby lily pad, and then jumped on the dripleaf. Without letting her other foot touch the giant leaf's surface, Eva simply hopped again, letting momentum carry her to the mouth of another dark tunnel across her. Sunbeam, despite being perfectly capable of flying to the tunnel, bounced off the plants anyway, effortlessly making it.
"See?"
Eva took a few steps back, indicating that I should follow suit. I hopped on the lily pad, and looked at the next 'stepping stone', estimating the distance I'd have to cover and the force I'd need to put. With a deep breath, I took a leap of faith, and successfully landed on the second plant.
Suddenly, I felt the earth vanish from under my feet, and I unceremoniously landed on the pond below, letting out a yelp of surprise.
"You can't stand on them for too long, otherwise they'll slump over. I can build you a staircase if you're having trouble," Eva offered with a usual blank face.
"I want to try again."
"As you like."
I got up on the lily pad once more, as the dripleaf perked back up. I braced myself again and landed on to it. This time, I jumped off immediately, reaching the edge of the tunnel.
"Good job. You learn fast," she noted.
"Thank you."
...
Without further exchange, we began our exploration of the uncharted underground passage. Due to the difference in lighting, this section had a more pronounced monster activity, as evident from the zombie growls. That said, even after placing down torches, there was no hostile mob in sight.
We did see an exposed iron vein, at least. I hoped we'd get enough so I could craft a shield. Before either of us could even get a chance to lift a pickaxe, however, a creeper unveiled itself from the shadows. Creepers in general are rather formidable enemies to deal with, so the fact that we were on such a cramped tunnel, only added another layer of challenge to the ordeal.
And yet, that wasn't the only layer.
We brandished our swords, but when an opening was revealed, we both went for it at the same time. What ended up happening was our swords clashed against each other. We were stunned by the occurrence, something which allowed the creeper to draw closer. We stumbled back, trying in futility to find cover. Sunbeam retreated farther back, as though she knew what would happen if things went wrong.
"Go ahead," I stated.
"Go first," she stated at the same time. We looked at each other briefly, incredulity painted in our eyes. This was not the right time to parrot one another. As the creeper started to shake, I attempted to go at it again, just to hopefully push it back at least. Before I could take another step, Eva yelled behind me.
"Watch it!"
She was holding a bow with an arrow ready to fly. An arrow that I was definitely going to get struck from, had she actually fired. There was no time for that, for the creeper detonated, blowing its surroundings to smithereens, and sending us flying back.
As the gravel that had plummeted from the ceiling settled, and my visibility was restored, I appraised our surroundings. Needless to say, the tunnel had certainly grown wider and taller. Stacks of gravel were now obstructing the way forward. I forced myself to get up, and sore though I was, I managed. I then helped Eva get back on her feet, as Sunbeam returned from her hiding spot.
That...could've gone better... That shouldn't be too surprising, though. I got the feeling we were both more used to fighting on our own, in one way or another. Eva gave me the impression that she didn't fight side-by-side with the illagers, instead encouraging them to act in independent groups, like in the raid.
I, on the other hand, had forgotten the feeling and the nuance of fighting alongside a teammate.
"We should work on our coordination," she noted, while returning to the iron vein. I was then asked to craft a furnace to smelt the raw material with, which I did wordlessly.
The vein gave out six lumps of raw iron, five of which were given to me to smelt, while the remaining one was handed to Sunbeam, who had returned from her hiding spot. Upon accepting it, she flew off, deeper into the tunnel, giggling all the while.
"Where is she going?"
"Somewhere that has an iron vein close by. She'll notify us when she finds one."
I could still see her luminescent body, its glow gradually dimming, as the wispy creature flew away. The little jingles were growing silent, as well.
"Is she going to be safe?"
At that, Eva's stoic demeanor became a little more jovial.
"She is. The allays may look frail, but they're fairly strong with some support. Thank you for the concern."
She didn't say anything else, and neither did I. For a while, the only things audible was the cracking sound of metal being refined in the furnace, and the distant dripping of water. Eva was idly mining some stone. I spoke up to grab her attention, hoping for something to fill the silence.
And yet, when I did, her brow furrowed.
"I told you; my name is Alex. Why do you insist on calling me by that pseudonym?" she asked in a strict tone.
"Well, that's the name you first gave me, so that's what I'm used to calling you by... I'll try calling you 'Alex' from now on."
I said that, and yet even though I'd make a conscious effort to refer to her by her actual name, I wasn't expecting I'd stop thinking of her as 'Eva' anytime soon...
"What did you want to say?"
I initially wanted to ask her if she could tell me more about myself and my past, but after that last exchange, I figured it'd be better if I didn't make this about me.
"I was wondering if you'd like to tell me more...about yourself?"
"...What do you want to know?"
Right...I hadn't thought of a question beforehand...My mind wandered back to the last time I was in a situation like this, or at least similar enough. A question that could serve as a decent icebreaker popped to mind, but I was hesitant to ask it; it could've come across as childish. Not wanting to irritate her again, I instead went for:
"Tell me a random fact about yourself. Anything."
She pondered for a moment, but it didn't take her long to find an answer.
"You've probably figured this out already, but I'm fond of flowers. I like seeing them bloom and spread. I don't have as much free time to tend to them as I'd like..."
"Do you have a favorite kind?"
She placed a hand on her chin, thoughtfully.
"There was one kind of flower I remember liking more than the rest, but I haven't seen it since..." She looked at me in unease. "Well, never mind..."
"What were you going to say?"
"...I...The last time I saw it, was in the Sky dimension."
That was the dimension we used to reside in, according to her, anyway. She hadn't told me much else. Even so, I decided now wasn't the right time to ask about it.
"What flower was it?"
"That's the thing; I don't really remember that, either. I think it had blue petals, and thorns on its stem..."
No flower that I'd come across quite matched the description she gave me.
"Something like a rose?" I queried.
"Perhaps... Anyway, I think tulips are my current favorite; they come in a wide variety, and they're very pretty..."
It became a little difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that this was the same person who killed Johnathan in cold blood...
*shriek*
In a fraction of a second, a cauldron of bats flew toward us. They were coming from the dark tunnel, and due to their quantity, the sounds their wings were emitting made a huge commotion. We covered our heads, until the cauldron passed us by. As we slowly stood up again, another flying creature dashed to our direction.
~ring-ring!~
Sunbeam scurried back to us, flying head-first to Eva's chest, clinging on to her for dear life. Eva, although shocked, started gently brushing the allay's hair. In a now-steady tone, she asked, "What happened?"
Sunbeam let out a whole slew of unintelligible, high-pitched yet quiet cries.
"Is she scared?" I asked.
"Seems like it...There, there, sweety, it's okay..."
I took in the sight of the (usually) stoic leader cradling the allay as though it were a child. It was touching in a way, but it made me feel a out of place. Trying to think of something to do, I decided to examine the tunnel ahead, just in case I'd see what scared Sunbeam so badly.
In the end, there were a couple of mobs idling near the far end of a wide stone chamber, but I didn't know whether they had anything to do with this. Sunbeam had been pretty calm during our encounter with the creeper, after all, so maybe she wasn't particularly afraid of hostile mobs. There were a few ore reserves that we could harvest, at least.
I retreated back to report my findings, but when I turned my back, I was immediately pushed from behind, and I almost lost my balance. I spun around swiftly, only to see that the offender was a tiny zombie, which hardly exceeded the height of a single block.
It was standing in front of me, its back arched forward, acid dripping from its rotting lips. Its gargling was an octave higher than any other zombie I had faced. With alarming speed, it lunged at me with its mouth wide open.
Unfortunately for it, I wasn't just going to sit there and accept my fate.
When it was in mid-air, I kicked it in the face, sending it flying back. Before it could get a chance to regain its footing, I held it down by placing my right boot firmly on its chest and finished it off with a few stabs of the sword. I was left panting lightly from the adrenaline rush.
"Steve, what happened?" I heard Eva ask from the back.
Quickly calming my breathing down, I gave her a run-down of the battle that transpired.
"A baby zombie, then? Those are usually pretty dangerous; I'm impressed you managed it on your own...though I suppose it's not that surprising, considering your experience."
"Thanks..."
We went ahead to mine the remaining ore veins, which were made up of iron and gold. As we were chipping away at the minerals, I asked about whether we would return to the mansion soon.
"Unfortunately, I've lost track of time. Ah, now is an ideal time to teach you a few things about redstone."
...
Initially, I wasn't certain whether a lesson on redstone was needed, but after returning to the deposit that had caught my attention at the start, I figured out the reason behind it. To summarize, redstone dust can be laid down in order to form a highly conductive line. With it, one can create remote mechanisms.
Eva demonstrated with a simple example. She had placed down a long line of redstone, with a lever on one end, and a wooden door on the other. When she would turn the lever, the line would glow, and the door would either open or close. Sunbeam was hovering in place, awestruck by the spectacle.
"There's great potential for traps using this material, especially if you add TNT to the mix, but that's neither here nor there. For now, what we need is a way to tell the time. Redstone can help with that, too. Here." She placed down a crafting table, and with handful of redstone dust, and four gold ingots, she crafted a clock.
"Like this."
The clock depicted the positions of the sun and the moon, and according to the interface, sunset was approaching, meaning we had to get going.
...
When we returned to the exposed section of the ravine, the sun had already set. In other words, we had spent basically the entire day away from the mansion. Eva seemed to be deep in thought ever since our departure from the lush cave.
"Are you alright?" My questioning apparently caught her off guard.
"Ah...yes, mostly. We didn't get all the materials we needed, so I'll have to go spelunking again tomorrow," she replied, and kept walking in the same brisk pace.
"Do you want me to accompany you again?"
"I appreciate the offer, but I'd like to go on my own, this time."
I expressed my understanding to her wishes of being alone. It was a sentiment I could relate to, especially those last few days. Sometimes, it felt like if I were to stop even for a second to take in the situation, I'd get overwhelmed by my thoughts...
"You know," she resumed. "I've been thinking about it, and I've decided to let Sunbeam spend tomorrow with you, if you'd like?"
It's not like I had plans for anything specific tomorrow or anything, but...
I threw a passing glance to the creature in question. She was looking up at me, a simple smile adorning her face.
...
"Sure! I'd like that."
Her wings fluttered at my answer.
"Good. Thank you for tagging along with me. I...really appreciate it."
The look she gave me, while still not betraying much emotion, felt genuinely thankful. It actually made me stagger a bit, before responding.
"You're welcome..."
...
As we made it to the entrance of the mansion, she buttoned her black cloak on her shoulders, before locking her eyes with mine.
"I promise, I'll find a way to help you, Steve. I'll find a way to make you remember." Her tone was determined, but there was an undertone of desperation.
'Is this really what you care about the most in regard to me? Restoring my 'memories'? That doesn't really make me feel good, or reassured, for that matter...'
"And if you don't?" I asked.
"If I don't...I'll start from scratch if I have to. I want us to be together again, but you have every right not to want that...especially after everything I've done to you..."
I supposed that answered my internal question... She really seemed determined to help me, in a weird way... Even though I still hadn't reached a conclusion with all the information, I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. I didn't have the chance to say that, because she continued talking.
"Speaking of which...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything my followers and I have made you go through. Even if our...my intentions meant well, I still took your old life away from you. Will you give me a chance to fulfill my promise to you? It's the only way I can think of to make amends."
"...I will." My resoluteness outweighed my uncertainty for once. Of course, I didn't like thinking about what I had lost because of this person, nor had I forgiven her for it, but I still wanted to get to the bottom of this debacle. She paused for a moment.
"Thank you... Good night, Steve."
"Good night...Alex."