Noor and Zuri come out of the portal, their eyes adapt from the portal's purple luminescence to the red darkness of a long forgotten realm of gloom and heat. There's not much to see, just a cave with fire and a couple of different minerals. Noor can't believe he is the first person in years to reach that place. Zuri has never been to the nether, but is excited to see if things have changed from what he had learned from the books he read. His hand grips his pickaxe as a bit of anxiety takes over his mind.
Zuri knows they won't find any life in a cave, so he hurries to leave. Noor complies and follows him. In the way, Zuri looks at the walls and the different minerals that compose it. Quartz, black stone, gravel; he needs something specific. After looking for a while, Zuri and Noor find an exit to the cave. The scenery doesn't change much though, everything on the outside is still made of the same red mineral, clumps of quartz, blackstone, gravel and a bit of gold ore. Zuri has found the thing he was looking for.
Z: Noor, there is one thing we need before venturing further into this dimension. We need golden armor.
N: Golden armor?
Z: Exactly, I'll make two helmets for us. I need you to be on the lookout while I collect the gold and smelt it.
Zuri walks up to some blackstone on a wall and collects it with his pickaxe. He collects the strangely soft mineral that makes up the walls and puts together a furnace. With his pickaxe, Zuri starts to chip away at the gold ore in the walls and puts the nuggets in the furnace. He ignites it with his flint and steel, the red mineral of the walls is decently flammable and makes a fire hot enough to melt the gold.
Noor looks around and admires the environment and looks for threats.
N: This atmosphere is crazy. I'm looking around and there's only fog everywhere. I gotta know how the weather here works.
Zuri jumps into the conversation.
Z: You can imagine this place as a giant cave the size of the entire world. There isn't a sky or a rain cycle. The biomes here would be divided according to the minerals in the area or… I don't know, probably vegetation. The climate doesn't really change according to the time or places. There isn't day or night.
N: That means our circadian cycle is gonna be messed up, right?
Z: Precisely. And don't you ever think about sleeping while you're in here.
N: Right…
Zuri puts on one of the helmets, he puts one on Noor's head. They're not of the best quality, but are pieces of clothing made of gold.
Z: We're ready to go.
Zuri starts to carefully walk around, looking for structures and looking out for any hostyle life forms. He carves lines into the ground with his pickaxe as he walks.
Z: Anyways, as I was saying. This place's history is filled with magic and death, the air you're breathing is infested with the souls of the damned.
N: Gross.
Z: When you sleep, your soul manifests physically in your body. It will want to get out to even out the amount of soul energy around you, because the energy in the air is less dense since the souls are evenly spaced out everywhere.
N: So… Your soul just leaves your body if you sleep in here?
Z: And the burst of energy it creates is so dramatic that your body explodes, with soul fire burning everything around you.
Z: NIce. Oh, look at that! A pack of zombified piglins!
N: Zombies?
Z: Yeah… The piglins are a native humanoid pig-like species. They've been through some stuff, I wonder if they ever recovered from their history.
N: Dude, we got mutants living here?
Z: Not mutants, they are their own species. They… Just look like the pigs we have back home and have nothing to do with them. Fun fact: The zombified piglins were discovered before the healthy ones ever came out from hiding, so they were called zombie pigmen for a while before getting "humanized" I guess.
An enormous structure can be seen emerging from the fog in the distance. It's decrepit, made of blackstone, with huge chunks of basalt - probably an attempt at improvised repairing.
Z: There's our first stop… A bastion. Or what remained of it. I hope they're still living there.
N: Who?
Z: The piglins. Our first step is to go in there and barter with them for some necessities. The problem is that we don't have any god to offer them.
N: Wait, we need god to trade with those guys?
Z: Yeah, they are obsessed, it's some kind of evolutionary trait. They hoard gold and I have a slightly unethical plan.
N: Oh no… I'm not kidnapping piglin babies.
Z: No! We're going to go in there and map out the area. Then we will go into the walls, cut holes into the chests and steal their gold. This pickaxe right here and my chisel are going to be our best friends for this trip.
N: That's kind of evil. I like the plan. I wasn't made aware of the chisel.
Z: As I said: They have more gold than they need or can use. This won't do a dent in their economy.
Zuri and Noor go into the bastion and are immediately hit with the most violent welcome party. The piglins have changed a lot in the past centuries, they have upgraded their security and now have stronger, taller, more violent fighters - the piglin brutes. Big, hog-like creatures look at the boys, who freeze in place. One piglin brute swings his axe at Noor, but he dodges, only damaging his armor. Him and Zuri run out of there, breathing the spicy air to try and stay alive. Eventually, the chasers decide that they've gone too far, then go back to the bastion unit.
Noor and Zuri now hide inside the cave where they initially came from.
N: BROTHER! You didn't tell me they were gonna try to kill us!
Z: Dude I didn't know! Apparently, times have been difficult and they had to resort to more violence. Also, we had the terrible luck of finding a stables bastion.
N: Oh, it was just bad luck?
Z: The piglins still ride hoglins, apparently. We'll have to approach from the underground.
N: Oh my god.
They both walk back to the bastion remnant and stop at a safe distance, trying to determine the right distance to traverse in the tunnels.
N: We– This is ridiculous.
Z: Luckly, the rock under our feet is very soft, it will be very easy on the pickaxe.
N: Looney tunes ahh heist plan.
Zuri makes a hole and digs for a while, feeling the heat in the walls so as to not stumble upon a pocket of lava. After a couple of minutes, he reaches blackstone, which indicates his arrival at the bastion. He digs a bit further and chisels at the floor above him, then uses the blade of his sword to look around using the reflections. And sure enough, he finds a chest.
Z: Chest.
Zuri makes a 90 degree turn and goes straight for the chest, chiseling at the floor trying to find wood. Eventually, Zuri feels wood being hit with his chisel and starts carving a hole at the bottom of the chest. After a while, he manages to pass the items in the chest through the hole and takes the gold ingots out of it.
Z: There we go!
N: This thing's gonna take so long.
Z: That's why you'll barter while I dig up the gold. Then we'll be good by the end of the day.
N: I'll have to interact with the pig things?
Z: You'll use your sword as a mirror to look for the normal piglins through the holes, then you'll call their attention and give them an ingot.
N: Uh huh.
Z: Since we don't speak the same language, they will just give you random stuff. That's why we will need so much gold. Focus on getting the weird orb things and the potions.
N: You know what? Let's do this.
For the next hours, Zuri mines the blocks around him, traversing through the underground and inside the walls, making the bastion almost completely hollow. He looks for the fullest gold stashes in the structure and mines the blocks of gold and steals as many ingots as he can.
Noor spends his time looking for piglins, getting their attention and trading with them as silently as he can. He puts all the items he gets in a pile beside him, making movement very hard.
Zuri has been counting the time all along and he determines it's time to go back home. Him and Noor collect their loot. They prioritize taking ender pearls and fire resistance potions back home.
With their bags filled, they take the treasure back to the portal and get back to the overworld.
It's late in the afternoon, the sky still has a bit of light. The village is highlighted in the distance and so are the lamps surrounding it.
Noor and Zuri carry their bags into the village and into the library, they find everyone else waiting for them.
Z: Ladies and gentlemen, the stuff.
Me: The stuff indeed.
Zuri puts the bag on the floor and takes a seat.
Z: Man, I'm dying, I need to eat something
Noor leaves his bag on the floor, he walks over to the bedroom.
Ma: Oh, we made food, I will heat it up while you clean yourself. You smell overcooked.
Zuri gets up and takes his armor off.
Z: Nice, I'll go back home to take a bath and I'll be back. Feel free to go through the stuff we brought. You can take stuff if you want. Just - and I can't stress this enough - don't pick up the dark green-blue-ish orbs. And be careful with the bottles.
Zuri leaves.
Sunny opens one of the bags, a slight purple glint comes out of it. Steve and Merl gather around him.
St: Okay, be careful with the bottles and orb things Zuri talked about.
Su: Why don't we– I'll take the stuff out of the bag so we can look at it better.
Noor comes out of the bedroom with clothes and a towel.
N: Uhh, did Zuri warn you guys about the orbs?
S: Yeah, I'm taking everything out of the bag, so we can look at it without any risk of messing something up.
N: Nice. Makena is in the kitchen, right?
St: Yeah.
N: I need her, I gotta eat something with sugar.
Noor eats, and after a few minutes, Zuri comes in to eat.
Z: Guys. Me and Noor are going back to the nether tomorrow and we're going a bit further away from the portal. We think we could have some extra help.
Su: I think I can go with you guys. I've been practicing some archery and realized I'm kinda good at it. Also– I don't know, I just wanna go.
Z:...
St: Yeah, no, I don't think that's for me.
Merl shakes her head.
Su: Okay, I kinda just wanna go for the loot.
Makena enters the conversation as she sets the table.
Ma: I don't really wanna go, not gonna lie.
Z: I wouldn't let myself put you in danger anyway.
…
Z: Okay, Sunny it is, we can use an extra hand from you.
Su: Extra hand. Hah.
Noor comes out of the bathroom.
After dinner, everyone goes to sleep, expecting a long day.
In the morning, Sunny, Noor and Zuri gather and get ready to get back to the nether. They put on their armor while it's still dark. Zuri writes a note.
"Me, Sunny, and Noor are in the nether, we left at 5 in the are taking food with us. I will probably be back at midday for extra resources, but certainly for a report. We will be back by noon."
Z: Okay, we will spend an entire day in the nether, I'll come back at midday for a report.
Zuri gets his pickaxe, his chisel, the sword and the bow. He gathers ingredients and brings with him a lot of water and fire resistance potions.
Noor takes his diamond sword, a lantern, some desserts, two syringes and an extra insulin capsule.
Sunny prepares to leave with a bow.
N: Zuri, do you have any ice?
Z: No, I don't, unfortunately.
N: Alright, I will have to…
Noor takes his insulin capsule out of his backpack and leaves two empty ones in it, he takes another full capsule with him.
Su: What are these things for?
N: It's insulin, I got diabetes.
Su: I don't understand.
N: It controls the level of sugar in my blood, 'cause my body can't do it by itself.
Su: Oh…
The three go to the portal, in the way, Noor gathers a bit of mud from the swamp. He puts one capsule inside of a small bag and puts mud around it. He does the same with the other capsule and puts it inside another bag.
He places the ball of mud with the capsule next to the portal and puts the bag with mud in his bag.
N: That… Should help preserve it a bit better. It'll be hot in there, so I hope the insulin doesn't expire too fast.
Z: Let's do this.
They go through the portal, again, their eyes take a while to adapt to the darkness.
Su: Wwwwoah. What's the plan for today?
The boys start walking towards the tunnel entrance previously mined by Zuri.
Z: We'll barter a little more, leave the loot here and go back for a report, then we'll raid a fortress. We should be back by noon after that.
N: Nice, more bartering.
Z: Except now, we got someone to organize the items.
Su: Ooh, potions. This is getting really interesting.
And then they do the same as the previous day. They crawl through the tunnel, Noor and Sunny wait for Zuri to collect more gold from other hidden areas. He brings the gold, Noor barters, and Sunny organises the items the piglins give to him.
After a couple of minutes, they finish the job.
Z: Alright, I think we can start looking for a fortress now. Sunny, you carry the pearls and potions with you. It will be a quick trip and we will be back through the portal for the report and a lunch break.
Noor leads Zuri around the bastion, while trying to be as quiet and invisible as possible. They make it pretty far before spotting another section of the bastion, made of a different material. Just a long bridge-like structure, just at eye level.
N: The transportation systems hee are good, look at that bridge thing right there.
Z: Oh, we got… A complicated situation here.
Su: What?
Z: That's a nether fortress. Apparently neither the piglins nor the wither skeletons wanted to move away from this area, now the fortress and the bastion are attached.
Su: Wither skeletons…
N: That name goes kinda hard.
Z: The bridge looks like it's very long. Let's go in and see how to get to the main areas, it will be useful for later.
They walk up to the fortress and struggle to get on it. It's just a long walkway that extends beyond the fog. To one side, a solid blackstone wall blocks the way, to the other, potential for a secure place - for monsters, at least.
The boys walk along the walkway, the fog gets thicker, the air gets even hotter. As Sunny chugs another bottle of water, ash starts to hit his face. Sounds of explosions and impacts can be heard in the distance, along with flashes of yellow amidst the fog, which is now gray as opposed to the usual red.
Su: This is… I think we can go back now.
Z: We still haven't found the main structure, there must be a real rivalry going on here.
The three glance behind them as something off putting gets their attention. Snorts and grunts echo into the distance, along with multiple heavy footsteps. Noor takes his sword.
Z: No, we can't show any signs of hostility, just run.
They turn around and run away from the noises, looking to find a way to hide or change directions. After just under a minute, a dark rectangular form can be seen ahead, with yellow light coming from the left and inside. Zuri notices the threat and stops running.
Z: Sunny, the potions! The ones with curved necks. And a normal one.
Sunny takes three potions from the bag, he keeps one to Zuri and another to Noor, he keeps the third one.
Zuri throws his bottle upwards and allows it to fall on his head. The liquid splashes everywhere, he gives his helmet to Sunny.
Sunny and Noor hesitate a little bit before doing the same.
Z: Stay with me and collect the rods. Be careful.
Zuri takes his helmet and runs into the structure with his sword drawn.
N: No… Hostility, noted.
Noor draws his sword and goes into the yellow light. Sunny goes after him, but stays out of the fight. Noor carefully swings his sword at any yellow he sees in front of himself.
He catches a glimpse of one of his enemies. A floating head of what seems like solid fire supported by smoke, flaming cylinders orbiting the black mass. Noor swings his sword and hits the monster twice, killing it and making it disintegrate as one of the rods falls to the ground. He takes it and keeps fighting.
Zuri fights the blaze with a bit more confidence.
As the pig sounds get closer, rattling sounds come from the opposite side. Sunny looks around and realises they're caught in a four-way interception.
Su: Guys, they are getting closer, and I'm sure there's something else coming. I don't think we can take all that.
Before Sunny receives an answer, he feels something pushing him from behind. Noor and Zuri get pushed to the center of the structure by what feels like a human figure made of coal. They're caught in a battlefield. Zuri reaches over to Noor, he feels a stinging pain on his right forearm and it comes to his mind how serious the situation is. He carelessly pulls Noor with all his strength.
They look around and confirm that Sunny is out of the battlefield. The three walk away, they are now going right in relation to the way they came from. Wither skeletons and blaze come out of the battle and start following them as they start to run. Fireballs are launched, but to no avail because of the potions. The way ahead seems to be clear, until jumping cubes of hardened lava jump out of the fog from the left. A loud cry is heard in the distance, the run comes to a stop.
Sunny trips on a small magma cube, and hears a loud crash in front of him along with a shockwave. He struggles to get up.
Noor struggles to think of an escape plan and starts to fight. Zuri looks around and goes to the edge of the walkway in an attempt to get away from the explosive fireballs. Noor and Sunny follow him, they are surrounded. Zuri looks down the edge and sees that there is a strong yellow glow under the fog.
Zuri feels a metallic taste in his mouth. Zuri takes Sunny's bag and takes a bottle out, he hands the bag to Noor.
Z: Put your sword away and hold it tight.
Zuri opens Noor's backpack and pours a bit of the potion in it.
Z: I hope this works.
Zuri grabs Sunny's arm and then Noor's, he jumps and takes them with him. Zuri's right arm stops working properly and he lets go of Sunny. The monsters stop the chase and lose them. The magma cubes don't get hurt by falling, so they jump as soon as they reach the edge.
The fall takes longer than expected, the yellow light gets brighter as time goes on, until it's unbearable to look at. Then there's a very painful impact followed by a torturing heat and all the air goes away. Zuri, Noor, and Sunny are covered by a liquid, so they swim to the surface.
They see a netherrack wall ahead and swim towards it, there's barely any land nearby other than a cave. The magma cubes fall in the lava behind them and fuse to it. The three barely make it out of the lava and crawl to the cave.
Z: Sunny, please tell me you put obsidian in the bag.
Zuri starts going through the bag with the items from bartering.
Su: Yes, there are a couple of blocks.
Z: Take care of the monsters, I will build the portal.
Zuri takes the bag with him and starts to hit the wall with his pickaxe. Noor takes out his sword, Sunny draws his bow and starts to shoot at the magma cubes. Noor starts slashing at them as they get closer. The creatures multiply as they get killed and start to overwhelm the duo. Zuri's arm is terribly injured, so he has to carve the hole in the wall using only his left arm. He looks in the bag, looking for fire charges, but there aren't any.
Magma cubes start to jump at Noor's legs. Sunny starts to hit the monsters with his bow.
Su: Zuri, we gotta hurry a bit. It's getting bad.
Zuri holds the flint on his right hand and ignites the portal after multiple attempts. He runs over to the others and helps them with the magma cubes.
Z: Come on! It's lit!
The three run into the portal, and Noor takes the bag. The magma cubes lose them and stop chasing.
Their eyes take a while to adapt to the darkness, the portal took them to the inside of a cave. The three fall to the ground and try to catch their breaths.
N: Oh my god.
Su: Dude…
Z: Oh my– We–
N: Let me put everything together before I say anything.
Su: The–
N: Man, there was nothing we could have done.
Su: I knew nothing good could have happened as soon as I stopped seeing anything two meters ahead of me.
Z: I'm so sorry. My obsession did this to us.
N: No, no. As much as I wanna be angry at you, I can't really say it's your fault.
Su: Man, the timing was terrible. Who had the idea to have a war right as we were unknowingly WALKING INTO THE BATTLEFIELD!? Man, screw the nether.
Z: I think I got cut by a wither skeleton. I need to take care of my arm before it rots completely.
N: By the way, how– like– bro, you just jumped!
Z: I don't know, I was just desperate.
Su: That was awesome!
N: You made me swim with one arm!
Su: I… Also had to swim with one arm.
Z: To be honest, my right arm is kinda paralyzed and was already really bad when I jumped. So, yeah, I also had to swim with one arm.
N: So, we're even on that. Let's get out of here.
Su: How?
N: I don't know, but let me just…
Noor reaches into his bag and takes his lantern. He takes Zuri's flint and steel and lights it up. Zuri pours water on his wound. He rips off his right sleeve and wraps it around the cut. Noor uses Zuri's chisel and starts to mark the walls to his right as he goes.