review replies:
LPK9: Evie is a sweetie :) and less insane than her namesake :D
Lenticel: ehehehehe
The Basalt Tower appeared on the fifth day.
It was tall, tall enough that it was still several miles away when it first came into view. The traders said that they were unlikely to reach it before nightfall. Stephen discussed this with his companions, and, between the three of them, they agreed to leave the merchants behind and travel the remaining distance when their hosts stopped for the night.
Their journey had been a quiet one, peaceful, and Stephen would miss the merchants when they left - especially Evie, whom he had gotten to know rather well over the course of their trip. Their mission took precedence, though. They could not hide from Lucius forever.
"How is your leg?" Stephen asked as Cafos pulled Alexis off of the llama's back. Alexis tested her leg, then stamped the ground with it
"Fine," She reported even as Cafos clicked his tongue at her. "'long as I don't have to do any running."
"I can't guarantee that." Stephen told her.
"What is our plan when we get there?" Cafos asked as Alexis tugged down her hood. "Just walk up and ask for an audience with Notch?"
"I doubt that will work." Stephen said slowly. "It worked with Lord Giles, yes, and sort of with the Lady of Melbourne, but if the tower is guarded by valkyries I highly doubt that your race will convince them of the urgency of our mission. More likely, they'll report our presence, and Lucius could be informed."
"So we sneak in." Alexis deduced. "Because we sure won't be able to fight our way in."
"I guess."
"And how do we intend to do that, exactly?" Cafos countered. "I should think that the portal would be guarded well enough to keep people like your father out, especially now that Notch knows he's coming. A few kids should hardly be an issue for them."
"Well," Stephen started, "We won't know what it's like there until we arrive. We can make plans once we know what we're dealing with." Cafos just grunted.
"You're leaving?" Evie's voice floated over, and the trio looked up as the young woman approached with a small smile on her face.
"Soon," Stephen told her. "I was thinking we'd stay for dinner if you didn't mind."
"'Course not." Evie gave him a sunny smile. "Now, I'd tell you t' stay out of trouble, but I reckon there's not much chance of that, hmm?"
"Yeah, probably not." Stephen couldn't help but return her grin.
"We can't thank you enough for you and your family's hospitality." Cafos said politely. "If not for you…"
"Oh, don't mention it." Evie waved him off. "Always happy to do a bit of good where we can." She swept over to Alexis, enfolding the younger girl in a hug. "Be careful with that leg, y'hear?"
"S-sure." Alexis squeaked. Evie stepped back, then turned her gaze on Cafos.
"You take care of them." She told him. The valkyrie's steely gaze softened slightly, then turned to Alexis, and Stephen wondered what the two of them had discussed in the days they'd spent together.
The three of them enjoyed one last meal with the traders, then shed their borrowed robes and ventured out towards the tower.
Stephen studied the tower from behind the trees with narrowed eyes, scrutinizing it for any sign of a way in.
"Cafos," he spoke. "How's your wing?" Cafos ruffled his feathers experimentally.
"Better." He reported. "Perhaps I could fly in an emergency, but not for long."
"Well." Stephen exhaled. "I suppose we're teleporting in, then."
The Basalt Tower was built out of the stone that was its namesake, a deep gray rock that Stephen and Cafos knew to be native to the Nether dimension. It stretched at least a hundred feet tall, with a spiraling indent up its height that implied the existence of a staircase inside. The topmost windows were lit with a warm, golden glow, which Stephen could only assume meant that there was where the Aether portal resided.
There was only one entrance, a wrought-iron door with an armored valkyrie standing on either side. Stephen highly doubted that they were the only ones. There were probably guards at the portal itself as well, and maybe on the inside of the doors, and potentially up and down the stairs…
"Can you teleport up to the top?" Cafos asked, breaking into his thoughts.
"Probably not." Stephen mused. "Not with a passenger, anyway, and certainly not twice."
"So we have to go up the stairs?" Alexis made a face, her injured leg shifting.
"Yes, and there will probably be guards stationed along them." Cafos echoed Stephen's thoughts. "Meaning that we will have to teleport past each set as we reach them if we want to avoid being detected."
"And I doubt I have enough energy for that." Stephen said with a frown.
"So do we fight?" Alexis asked.
"We would lose." Cafos said bluntly.
"Well, we have to try something. We've come all this way." Stephen insisted. "Worst case, they catch us. Perhaps they would arrest us and drag us off to the Aether, and we can speak with Notch then."
Alexis raised her hand. "This does not fill me with confidence."
Stephen gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
"Worst case, they execute us on the spot." Cafos cut in. "But, yes… I think it's more likely that we would be arrested. What they would do to us then, I couldn't say. I feel it's unlikely that they would lead us to our goal, but Stephen is correct- we have to try." Stephen looked to Alexis, who gave a halfhearted nod, and he squared his shoulders.
"Alright." He pointed to a window, the second one up. "I'm going to try to teleport us up there. Let's get as close as we can first. Alright?" He crept out of the trees, and Cafos and Alexis followed close behind.
They got about forty feet from the building before Stephen called them to a halt. The door guards were, as it turned out, not the only ones on the outside of the tower - there were several more that patrolled around the building. Stephen wondered if they were always there, or if this was a response to his father's threat. Glancing back at the others, he reached out both hands, taking each of their hands in one of his and teleporting.
Stephen felt his legs grow weak as they appeared within the building, in an unlit room with a closed door. He staggered against a wall, drawing in a deep breath, then turning to give the others a thumbs-up.
"I'm alright." He whispered in response to Alexis's concerned look. "Let's get go-"
"There! In the trees." A sudden shout came from below, and the three of them froze, Cafos' gaze flicking nervously to the door. It took a moment for Stephen to decipher its meaning - in the trees? They were all inside the tower now. What, or who had they-?
A dying scream made his blood run cold.
The three of them pressed themselves into a corner, silent and still, as the sounds of death rose up from below them. Stephen's heartbeat grew faster when a set of footsteps grew near, but whoever it was passed by them, going further up the tower. Only once the footsteps had nearly gone silent did he dare to speak, whispering to the others,
"We have to get out."
"The portal." Alexis hissed back. "What about-?"
"Stephen's right." Cafos cut her off. "Whoever that was just killed the door guards with no issue - we can try again later." Stephen didn't voice his guess as to who the intruder was. Instead, he moved towards the door, a wince stealing across his face when the hinges creaked upon movement.
He led the others down the winding staircase, coming to a sudden halt when he reached the bottom floor - three dead valkyries lay strewn on the unforgiving stone. Stephen swallowed, then stepped forward, picking his way past them towards the door.
"Stephen." Alexis whispered, and he glanced back at her to find that she had stopped. "Look."
"At what?" He hissed impatiently. She pointed, and he followed her finger to a hatch in the floor behind where the staircase began, nearly obscured by the shadows.
"Maybe we could hide there?" She whispered. "Then the… whoever that was won't run across us on his way out."
"If he leaves this way." Stephen mumbled. "But…" he hesitated for a moment to consider this. Why not? It would grant them easier access to the portal once the coast was clear. "Alright." Cafos, the closest one, stepped past a valkyrie's corpse and grabbed the handle to pull half of the trapdoor open.
Immediately, golden light spilled into the room.
The trio exchanged a startled glance, and Stephen hurried over to join Cafos, helping him open the hatch all the way. A narrow staircase was just below, and Stephen stepped down into it, almost immediately treated to the sight of the Aether portal.
The shimmering frame sat at the far end of a circular, ornately decorated room, illuminating every corner and cranny with heavenly light. Within the frame was a milky blue surface, not unlike the surface of a quiet lake, off of which small specks of blue floated. Stephen had never seen an Aether portal before, but there was no doubt in his mind that this was what they sought.
"Whoa." Alexis breathed as she stepped down beside him. "Then- what's at the top?" Stephen shrugged helplessly.
"Not what Her- what that person wants it to be, if I could hazard a guess." Cafos muttered. "Let's go." Spurred into action by his words, Stephen grabbed Alexis's hand and hurried down the steps, coming to a stop before the glowing frame.
The azure surface was warm and inviting, and Stephen couldn't tell if it inspired the feeling of peace and joy in him, or if it was just the fact that they had finally, finally reached their destination. He glanced over his shoulder, ensuring that Cafos was close behind, before squeezing Alexis' hand and stepping forward into the light.
The sensation of being ripped through space was not one that Stephen was altogether unfamiliar with - he could, of course, teleport himself. But this was out of his control, and much farther, far enough that he was left dizzy and disoriented when he found himself stumbling out on the other side. Alexis seemed little better beside him, and Stephen gave them both a moment to recover before lifting his gaze to study their surroundings.
They were on an island. A large one, to be sure, but an island regardless, he could see the edge not fifty feet away. Beyond the stone platform they stood on was pastel-green grass, speckled with purple and white blooms that filled the air with a sweet smell. The sky was filled with islands of varying size, as well as rolling, billowing clouds, and unfamiliar creatures that floated alongside them. Beyond them were layers upon layers of glittering stars - so much more visible than from the Overworld. Stephen didn't realize his jaw had dropped until he felt his mouth going dry.
He forced himself to shut it, looking up as Cafos appeared beside him. "Okay," He said, coughing to clear his throat when his voice caught. "W-we need to find Notch. Is there a way off this island if you don't have wings?"
"There must be," Alexis pointed out. "Lady Eydis came here, remember?"
"Right." Stephen frowned, scanning the horizon, and his gaze fell upon a bridge built out of golden stone. "Well, I suppose there's nothing to do but pick a direction."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that." A blade rested at his throat, and Stephen jerked back, blue eyes flashing up in alarm to meet his former teacher's. "And," Lucius went on. "I wouldn't recommend any heroics, this time." Four more valkyries stood behind him, two of them armed with swords and the other two with crossbows, which were trained on Cafos and Alexis on his right and his left. Stephen swallowed, then, slowly, raised his hands above his head.
"No!" With a cry of frustration, Herobrine slammed a fist into the pillar of glowstone, shattering the fragile material upon impact. The sharp edges cut his hand, but he paid it little heed, growling as he stepped back from the beacon. A decoy. He had fallen for this?!
The increase of valkyrie activity in this area had led him to this tower, which - he thought - had increased their security to keep him from the portal, but fighting his way up the tower had led him to only this - a light, kept locked away in the highest chamber. Was this what they had been guarding? Had Notch truly assigned so many of his soldiers, just to misdirect him?
Herobrine wiped off his hand on his shirt, adding another bloodstain to the filthy garment. Disappointment crashed over him in waves, but he forced himself not to lose hope. He would find that portal, eventually.
He teleported about halfway down the stairs, as far as he could go without compromising his fighting ability. He was already tired. Valkyries meant little to him, but the numbers here had pushed him, and he did not want to be caught unawares if more happened to arrive. Thus, he walked, limping his way down the winding staircase past the bodies of the guards he had slaughtered.
The light reached him before he had even neared the bottom.
Herobrine's brow furrowed when he spied the source - an open hatch at the back of the room on the ground floor. This had not been open when he arrived. Had he missed a valkyrie? The warm light gave him hope, and his heart began to beat faster as he came closer and stepped down into the basement.
There it was.
Herobrine smiled, actually smiled, as he stepped off the stairs, the pain in his bad leg forgotten at the sight of the shimmering portal. Finally. After fifteen years of struggle and sorrow, he was so close to reaching his goal, to reaching the one responsible for the death of his wife and son. He would likely need to fight his way across the Aether to reach him, but so be it. His thirst for vengeance had given him strength thus far, and he was confident that it would not fail him now.
Herobrine strode forward and stepped into the portal.
well shucks
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~p0tat0-g0ddess