Chapter 8 - The Burning Winter

After defeating the Admin, I found out that it wasn't possible to leave this world. This opened up an old scar in my previous life.

What is my role in life? My purpose?

I sometimes ask myself that question many times before arriving to this world, but I had yet to find that answer.

Wealth? Fame? Power? No. That doesn't sound like it. I can only see a boring future with that. Then what? At this point... At this point...

...I feel like I'm falling into an abyss. Into the endless nothing.

But as soon as I saw the Architect, my heart raced. Yes! Something to do! I'll hunt this monster down and hopefully find a way to escape!

...

But...

Is that really it?

The sky became bleak as it seemed like the day was about to get cold. It wasn't anything to worry about... That was until everyone twitched and ran inside a nearby cave like a cat who touched water. I watched them in confusion. "What's going on?"

"What are you doing?! Get away from the snow!" they yelled in unison.

I finally realized what was happening. White cold snow dropped from the gray clouds and burned anything it touched with blue flames. Plants and animals were slowly incinerated to the ground. The water in the river was transformed and covered in flames. I was the only living being that was unaffected by it. The other quickly noticed.

"Wait... You're not burning?" Stacy was puzzled.

"I guess not... Give me a sec." I ran under the tree, punched a few leaves to get saplings, and ran back to them. "I had to make sure I had a few seeds before every tree burned down."

Stacy was in deep thought. "The flames of the snow feel similar to your flaming eye," she said. "Maybe that's why you're not taking damage?"

"Not sure... My eyes hurt whenever I activate it, yet it doesn't burn it to ashes."

The snow began to fall even harsher and colder.

Sparklez huffed. "It's just one thing after another. As if the legions of fogbeasts weren't bad enough, now we have cold weather that somehow starts wildfires."

"Hey. Look at the bright side. We managed to sneak away with our lives intact," Dan said.

"..." Stampy scratched his head. "What now? Do we just dig underground until the snow stops?"

"I don't see any other options here..." Lizzie looked around. "Does anyone have a shovel?"

I took out my efficiency diamond shovel. "I'll handle it."

After a few hours of digging in hyper speed and looking outside to check on the weather, the snow finally stopped falling. We dug out and noticed that we arrived at the village where we bought the maps. Yet what was left of it was nothing but rubble and floating blocks.

Stampy stood there in terror. "What happened?"

Stacy analyzed the destruction. "Either the snow or the monsters got to them."

"Both," I answered. "The snow should've burnt the wooden buildings down easily and the monster must've destroyed the rest of the nonflammable blocks while wiping the people away..."

"Must have been brutal," she shook.

"Brutal indeed. I'm sure they didn't spare a single man. Anyways, let's keep moving."

Stampy shook his head. "I don't get it. How can you be so calm?"

I glanced at him. "Hm? What are you talking about?"

"Your acting like this whole thing is just some kind of show! Like you don't care."

I stepped forward. "Do we really need to worry about it? It's not like we can do anything to help it. And if I think of what happened here is true, then I can't imagine Jesse's town will survive. We'd better hurry."

"Wait!" Dan stopped them. "Has anyone seen Lizzie?"

I searched around but couldn't find her. "Um. I thought she was behind us."

-An Hour Ago-

Ow... My head...

Lizzie stood up as she rubbed her aching head. "Where am I?" She took a moment to look at her surroundings and realized that she was inside a massive cave with multiple flowing water streams pouring down a cliff. Looking above, she couldn't find the hole where she fell from. "Did the water carry me when I fell? ...What do I do now? I can't dig up because of the strange weather... Maybe they will come back to help?"

Lizzie stood there in silence, waiting for something or someone to come and find her, yet nothing happened. She grunted. "Did they really leave me behind?"

"– · — – -"

Her golden sword and healing potions were out and ready.

I already had enough of you, you freaks!

She looked to her left and right but there was no sign of the fog. Maybe it was just my imagination?

"EYAAA!" She shrieked as she fell to the floor with a big heart attack. Something big was clinging to her face. Lizzie tried to push it away, but it didn't work. "GAAH!" The eight-legged monster sunk its sharp teeth into her face, leaving two massive scars on her cheek. She pushed the spider even more, but to no avail. Her blade and potions that she dropped were near her, so she kept pushing the monster while trying to blindly find her sword with her right hand. She sharply breathed out as she ran through the small broken glass shards scattered around the floor. Eventually she found her sword and without hesitation, she swings her blade multiple times, killing the spider and... "AAAAAAAAAAAAA!" ...accidentally slicing one of her eyes off.

She rolled around the floor as the intense pain ran through her like never before.

Dammit! My eye! Why is this happening!? It's so painful! So much pain!

"— - · – - · · — –"

She instantaneously stood up with her blade in hand and ran the opposite direction. I'm not good with close combat! I need to get away!

Lizzie ran as fast as she could. She made sure to enter random cave openings to shake off the monster's pursuit.

"- — – - - — — · – ·"

Arriving near an aquifer, three creeper fogbeasts appeared in front of her. "Not today!" She dived into the big pool of water and swam as fast as she could.

Reaching the other side of the aquifer, she found an entrance to an abandoned mineshaft. She made a quick turn, dashed inside, and blocked off the entrance with her blocks.

"I made it ou-"

"Screeek!" Multiple cave spiders crawled on the walls.

When does it end?! Lizzie sprinted away from the poisonous monsters. Spotted a small hole in the wall, she jumped in and sealed herself inside.

Finally

Walking further in, she found nothing but a tiny pool of lava. Basically, a dead end. Lizzie slowly sat against the stone wall and held her messed up eye. "Ah... hahahaha... Is this what Alpha feels whenever her left eye burns? How interesting..."

She took out her glimmering sword. "All thanks to my carelessness, I lost one of my eyes. And now I'm somehow stuck here all alone." Putting her blade away, she took a few deep breaths. "It's alright... Everything will work out. Just have to find a way to get out of here."

After taking a break away from the hot lava, Lizzie stood up and took out her pickaxe. She mined through the stone until a half hour later, she found another massive cave.

She saw something glowing further down the cave. "What is that?" Lizzie took out her pickaxe, mined down safely until she reached the bottom stone floor and made her way to the light source.

The flowing water stream was touching the blue flaming liquid, consuming the normal water slowly. In the center of the burning aquifer floated a young black-haired woman. "Why is she just sleeping there and how is she not burning... Wait. Alpha was also not affected by the flames. Could she be the same as her?"

Lizzie wanted to reach out to her but couldn't swim across. "Hmm... Maybe I should bridge across..." Taking out some cobblestone blocks she carefully built closer to the mysterious person. Her face was melting from the heat, especially her scars, but she ignored the irritating pain and continued to cross it.

Arriving near the sleeping person, Lizzie picked her up without touching the flames, and ran back to land. "Phew. What a struggle." She looked at the unconscious stranger. "Still asleep?"

"..."

"I think that's a yes." Lizzie sighed. "If only I could be immune to the flames like you guys." She put her arms around her shoulders and began walking. "Might as well carry you out of here. Though I don't really know where to... I'll just have to keep moving forward."

-Present-

Alpha shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We are going to Beacontown."

"No! We need to find Lizzie right now!" Dan yelled.

Stampy agreed. "She might be in danger!"

"And do you know where to look?"

With nothing to say, they looked down.

"I thought so." Alpha starts to walk ahead of them. "It's already too late. She might have disappeared a long time ago. If we try to backtrack and find her now, it might take us hours or even days."

Stacy glared at her. "Then you're saying we should just abandon her?"

Alpha didn't say anything for a while. "...You can go find her yourself if you're that worried. I'm not going to waste my time trying to find her right now."

"What a heartless person!" Stampy blurted out.

Alpha stopped for a few seconds. "Oh... really?" She turned around with the strangest expression. This made the others step back. "Heh. You're absolutely right. I am heartless. I don't even care what happens to any of you. Not to the world. Not even myself."

"W...What are you saying?"

She turned away from them and with her left metal fist, she punched the nearby tree with such force that it destroyed the log in one hit. She gave them a sharp glare. "YOU ARE COMING WITH ME."

Beacontown was in shambles. There were no signs of life left. Alpha took out her sword. The rest silently followed behind her.

No one said a word as she turned to them. Alpha pointed her blade. "I want all of you to find anyone alive."

The four nodded and quickly scattered off in multiple directions. As Alpha watched them leave, she sat down near the destroyed building, going through her thoughts all alone.

I changed my mind. I should just leave them and go venture out by myself like I used to. No point with having more people with me when I have this sword. They'll only slow me down... Yes. If Jesse is still alive, I'll just hand them over and find the exit to this world myself... I bet the YouTubers wouldn't even mind me doing this. They aren't that committed anyways.

"What are you doing here?"

Alpha looked up and saw a tired person. "Oh hey. You came just in time. It's been a while hasn't it, Jesse."

"...I need to know. Did you cause this mess? This horrible weather. The army of monsters." His fists shook in fury. "Because it killed everyone."

"Ha. You really think I have that much power to do something on this scale... Actually. Change of subject. Let me show you something before I forget."

"Okay?"

Pulling out a single piece of porkchop from her inventory, Alpha showed it to him. "I don't expect forgiveness and I know what I did wasn't cool, but this isn't something I should be holding on to. Take it."

Jesse snatched it away from my hands. "Is this..."

"It is what you think. I swapped it out before he could steal it." She stood up. "I'm leaving. There are some people here that survived the destruction. You should go help them."

Closing her eyes, she disappeared.

Walking alone in a forest that no longer had trees in them, I played around with my blade. "This is it. I have no idea what will happen and I'm all alone..." I pondered for a bit until I came to a conclusion. "Well, I remember saying that there needs to be uncertainty in the world for it to be interesting a long time ago. And I still believe it is true. If I don't know what happens in the future, it should make things more enjoyable. I'll overcome my obstacles and defeat anything in my way."

"Didn't know you like to talk to yourself."

I froze as I heard her behind me. "Lizzie?"

"Yeah. I'm back somehow. Where are the others?" She asked.

I didn't turn to look at her. "They're with Jesse now."

"What?"

"I left them with him. Now I'm walking my own path." I pointed behind me. "Beacontown is that way. You should hurry up if you want to join them."

Lizzie walked in front of me. "Wait just a moment. Look at this. I found her in a big cave."

Looking at the slumbering person next to her, she had pale skin, a long black hair with a unique metal looking accessory attached to the side, and a black long dress with light blue pulsing stripes.

I was puzzled. Had no idea who she was supposed to be. "Who is she? And..." I finally noticed Lizzie's scarred face. "What happened to you?"

"We can talk about that later. I don't know who she is, but I just found her sleeping in a blue fiery lake. It was similar to today's snow and your flames. And she still hasn't woken up yet."

"She is immune to the flames?"

Lizzie nodded. "Yeah. I thought you would know something about this."

I shook my head. "I don-"

"Yaaaaawn..." The young woman opened her eyes as she covered her mouth.

Jumping back, I pulled my sword out and pointed at her.

Alarmed, the woman also jumped backwards in elegance and summoned a sword made purely out of blue flames. Striking the ground with her flames, it shone brighter as it created a loud chiming sound. She winced as she clenched her flames. The area around her created a massive shockwave and lifted the blocks up.

I was lifted up with dirt blocks but didn't let it surprise me. Immediately I closed my eyes and slowed down time. Scrapping my left arm, I unleashed my flames and paralyzed everyone in place. I dashed towards her and slashed my blade into her face, only to be blocked swiftly by her blade. "How?!"

Stunned in place, Lizzie panicked as she felt the radiating flames heating her face. "Whoa! Guys! What is going on?!"

I backed up again as she tried to strike me. "I felt something off about her as soon as she woke up. Like she isn't here."

"Isn't here?" She slightly tilted her head. "What do you mean by that?!"

I glared back at the stranger. "Don't know. Why don't you ask her."

Lizzie looked at the elegant woman who was silently studying our movements. "What are you?"

"..."

"Do you have a name?"

After staring at us for a few moments, she finally speaks. "I... don't really know?"

"What does that mean?"

She held her head. "I... I feel like I remember something but at the same time I feel like I'm missing something."

"That's the very definition of amnesia." I slowly dropped down my blade while not letting go of it. "How about you remove that weapon of yours and stop this pointless fight. I don't want anyone getting harmed."

"Hmm..." She thought deeply. "Okay." Her flames disappeared as she released her hand.

I closed my eyes, removing my flames and placed my diamond sword away. "So, if you have no name, what should we call you by?"

"Um. I think... Eh... Stella?" She thought.

"Estella?"

She nodded. " Something like that."

"I see. Then can you tell me anything about yourself? How did you get that power?" I asked.

"I don't know or remember anything... Except for a big tower and two burning eyes."

I looked at her seriously. "Burning eyes... Were they white?"

Estella nodded. "Yeah."

"And the tower? Can you explain more about it?"

She placed her hand on her chin. "It was super tall and thick. Reaching all the way to the gray ceiling. And it was mainly made out of black fog."

"A tower made out of black fog..." I tried to figure out what she was referring to, but nothing came to mind. "I've got nothing. Is that supposed to be in the Nether?"

Estella tilled her head in confusion. "What's a Nether?"

I shook my head. "Are you serious?"

She simply nodded.

"Do you... know how to make wooden planks?"

"I don't know what a wooden plank is either. This world feels new to me. But at the same time not really..."

I grunted. Do I have to babysit someone now? I don't have time for this... Wait. She also has powers like mine. Maybe if I can build some kind of relationship between us, I might gain an actual useful ally.

"Can you tell me how to get to the tower?"

"The tower..." Estella closed her eyes. "I feel like it's underneath this world. Somewhere very deep."

"I think it's the world below the bedrock."

"Oh. The world below us. I remember you mentioning that a few days ago," Lizzie said.

"Yet, I'm not sure how we get down there..." I began to walk back and forth as I muttered many words. "A way down? The Admin isn't here... A portal? Nothing that I know of... Someone who has information? I can't think of one..."

"Um... Uh... Hey, are you okay?" Estella asked.

I shook my head. "It's nothing."

Lizzie hopped as she remembered something. "Oh! We haven't introduced ourselves!" She pointed at herself. "I'm Lizzie and that right there is Alpha."

"I...I see... Hello Lizzie and Alpha."

"Likewise." I crossed my arms. "Estella, since you don't seem familiar about this world, how about we team up and I can teach you many things about this place."

Out of nowhere, Estella backed up in fear. "D...Don't hurt me!"

I was confused. "What?"

"You're going to hurt me, aren't you? You're going to trick me and force me to do some unspeakable things. Don't you dare come at me!"

Lizzie glared at me. "Hey Alpha, what's going on? Did you do something to her?"

"I did not." I looked back at the cowering young woman. "Can you please explain the problem clearly? Because I don't understand why you're doing this. And don't worry, I promise I wasn't planning to do anything bad to you."

She tried to take a deep breath. "I...I'm sorry. I just felt like I had a déjà vu. Something similar happened to me. Something terrifying."

I scratched the back of my head. "Oh. Sorry if I said something that made you remember something horrible."

Estella embarrassingly fidgeted with her hands.

"Ahem... So, allow me say this again." I stretched out my hand to her as I kneeled down with one knee. "Estella, would you come with me and learn about this world? I promise I won't do anything bad to you and I will protect you from any harm."

She hesitated at first, but as she saw me kneel down, she slowly accepted and held my hand. "Okay. I will believe in you Alpha."

I stood up strong and nodded in satisfaction.

Lizzie was baffled. It was as if she had seen the strangest thing in her life. "What are you? Some kind of prince?"

"Hah."

"...What so funny?"

"Forget it... Anyways Lizzie, I think it's best if you go now. The snow might come back again. We will see you later."

"Wait!" Lizzie quickly ran towards me. "I'm coming as well!"

"Hm?"

"I want to... No." She placed her hand to her chest. "I need to get back to the real world. I don't want to stay here and do nothing."

"I also want to leave. But you know that I don't know how to exactly leave this world, right?"

She nodded. "I understand that. I still want to try and find a way out."

"What about your friends?"

"I..." Lizzie clenched her fists. "I don't need them right now. If I allow my feelings to control me, I will lose sight of my goal. So please, let me join you."

"I see... Fine, I'll let you come with us."

"Thank you. I promise I'll do my best!"

"Good to know." I turned back to Estella. "First, we should explain a few basics to you."

Lizie looked around. "So how are you supposed to show her how this world works if trees are gone?"

I showed her the saplings. "We can start with these."

"- – · — · –"

Lukas sighed as he leaned against the cave walls. Another fog monster... Damn, I should've stayed home. He poked his head out the cave entrance. They don't take breaks, do they?

An arrow zipped right past him. He backed up inside. Too close. I have to bait them out and find an opening. Lukas ran behind the rocky pillar and clashed his iron sword against the stone.

*CLANG*

Suddenly, zombies mindlessly ran inside the cave. They passed by Lukas and before they knew it, their backs were stabbed by his blade.

"Phew..." He looked at their items as the monsters disappeared into thin air. "Who knew there would be a day where I would see zombies using bows."

He picked up the arrows that were covered in black liquid. "What is this smell?"

"That tip on the arrow is covered with a deadly poison. Also known as the wither," a strange man quickly answered.

"Who?!" Lukas turned around to see a familiar face approaching him. "Ivor? What are you doing here?"

"Ever since this apocalypse began, I ran out of my lab to find that silver woman. But this stupid weather is slowing me down."

"You mean Alpha?"

Ivor nodded. "Yes. She is the strongest person in this world that I have ever seen. I need her help. Do you have any idea where she is right now?"

Lukas stored the arrows in his inventory. "It's been a while since I or any of my friends saw her."

The gray clouds began to cover the sky again and blow its cold winds.

Ivor grunted. "Oh... It's going to snow again?"

"Seems that way." Lukas sat down. "Not much we can do than wait patiently."

The old man stared at him as he stroked his black beard. "Say, why don't we work together?"

"Huh? Why?"

"You see, I think I know the solution on how to stop this chaos that is destroying this world. This requires Alpha's strength... and Jesse's help as well."

Lukas shook his head. "Jesse? Why him?"

"Well first, let me tell you it's not me who knows the solution, but one of my old friends who went exploring in the End dimension recently. It will be hard to track him down and because of this, I can't go alone without the Amulet, which is in Jesse's possession right now."

"You mean you want to find Soren?"

"Correct. That man has explored almost every corner of this world. If anyone knows why these strange events are happening, it would be him. That's why I want to team up with your friend so we can find that old fool. As for Alpha, I just need her strength in case things go south. There are many things we don't know about the fog."

"Really? I mean, it sounds like a good plan, but it doesn't feel... how to put it... like it is going to work completely?" Lucas glanced at the cold, burning snow outside. "How are you so sure that this will help fix the weather and invasion of monsters?"

"It's the only solution I can come up with, okay? How about you try to come up with one."

"I don't think I can." Lukas sighed. "Okay. I'll join you in this plan. Better than watching the world slowly wither away. But I have to ask, how are you going to find Alpha?"

Ivor smirked. "I modified her sword in the last second before she could fully enchant it. If I need to track her, I can use this special item that can point in the direction she's in." He showed Lukas a glowing compass that was pointing up towards the snow. "I think it's more important if we find Alpha first and then we can go to Beacontown and get Jesse later."

"Sure. We can go out as soon as the snow stops."