Disregarding the fact that I've once again disappeared for a lot longer than I thought I would, I thin you'll be happy to know I've finished this chapter and the next one already, Midnight.

Midnight: Oh wow, you actually were being productive since last September.

...

Midnight: ...Why did it take you 7 months to write 2 chapters?

Uh...

"Come on, Mira!"

I looked up, even though that wasn't my name…

Was it?

There was a boy standing in front of me, not too much older than I was. He was bouncing impatiently, like he was waiting for me to follow him (Looking around, we were the only ones left in the room, so there was no one else he could've been talking to, unless he had an imaginary friend right where I was sitting).

"Where are we going?" I almost didn't recognize my own voice, though it shouldn't have been a surprise that I sounded much younger than 17, given how young the boy looked.

He looked at me like I'd grown a second head, almost offended at the idea that I'd even thought of asking that question. "To the Keep, obviously!" He walked over, pulling me out of my seat when he got to me, and dragged me along behind him as he left. "We're staying the night at Uncle Fred's house!"

I didn't complain, the image of freshly baked bread appearing in my mind as soon as he said the name. Just the thought of spending the night in the coziness of that cabin brought a smile to my face, and I started to pick up speed to keep pace with the boy.

"I'll race you there!"

His own smirk grew impossibly wider.

"You're on!"

And so we ran, uncaring of what was happening in the world around us, because nothing else mattered then. At that one moment in time, everything seemed to revolve around two kids who weren't in any way prepared for what was going to happen to them in the near future.

But who was that boy, with hair red like his (our?) father's, who rushed into everything without thinking of the consequences, who disappeared so suddenly and never returned?

And why did he call me Mira?

There wasn't much to do but wait until Jesse and Petra returned from their mini adventure, so I suddenly found myself with way too much downtime and no idea how to spend it.

I tried asking for any ideas, but my partner in crime was entirely unhelpful, as expected.

"Figure it out." She said, not even bothering to look directly at me. "You've got the whole world at your finger tips, after all."

"We've explored pretty much all of it already."

"Go home, then." At first, I thought she just meant the cabin Lukas and I shared, but then she unexpectedly backpedaled. "Oh, wait… Never mind."

"What?"

"Forget it. Just find something to do."

I wasn't about to let it go that easily, though.

"No, what do you mean 'go home'? Where else would my home be?"

She stared at me like I was the one acting weirdly. As much as I tried to think about what she possibly could've meant, nothing came to mind.

"Huh. I didn't think you'd end up forgetting that much."

That's when it clicked. I couldn't believe myself, forgetting such an important fact, losing myself to this game of pretend I was playing.

I'm not a part of this game. That was something that was supposed to be impossible to forget, and yet I'd even fooled myself, despite my knowledge of future events.

By 'go home', she meant 'go back to the real world'.

"It's possible." As though she heard my thoughts, she answered a question I hadn't even asked yet. Or maybe she was responding to herself. "It's just that you haven't done it since you first got here, and I never asked again after the New Order formed."

Right, she had given me the choice to leave, if I wanted. Why did I refuse? Not that I regretted my decision, but now I was curious.

"I'll stay." I said. If the conversation went much further, we'd end up talking all day, and we both knew we didn't have time for that. "I've still got work to do."

Right on cue, it started to rain. This adventure hadn't even started yet, and I had no reason to back out.

So after coming up with a half-formed excuse, I went out to meet up with Jesse and Petra, with every intention of inviting myself on their journey to a Sea Temple.

"So I leapt off the cliff - mournful blade in hand - and drove it right into the head of the Ikthara Zombie."

The entire trip was filled with all types of stories, of varying believability, courtesy of Jack. From how it sounded, he'd been all over the world since well before we ever even thought about the Far Lands. Naturally, there was a high chance a lot of it was made up, but at least he knew how to tell a good story. It was enough to keep Petra's attention at the very least, even with her… interesting way of 'playing it cool'.

Jesse, on the other hand, seemed like he was feeling a little left out. It wasn't hard to see why; from the moment Jack opened his mouth, Petra had been giving him her full attention, while only responding half-heartedly to Jesse's comments. For as close as the two were, that sort of behavior was a little surprising, but for the sake of not causing any unnecessary tension, I chose to keep quiet about it.

Still, I have to admit it was a little sad watching him slowly remove himself from the conversation while one of his closest friends remained completely oblivious to his plight.

It wasn't long before we reached a beach, the temple just below us. Jack dug up some helmets so we weren't just relying on our own stamina to keep us alive while talking about the rumors he'd heard about the temple's origins.

"Some people believe it's because this temple was made… by the Admin."

Naturally, Jesse and Petra had never heard of those rumors. The Admin was a completely foreign concept to them at the moment, though whether or not they found out who he was before they were supposed to was almost entirely on my shoulders. Unlike Jack, they seemed to actually believe parts of the story, especially the fact that he was supposedly an all-powerful being.

Which made sense, in hindsight. We had faced a lot of 'impossible' situations before.

Before long, we were approaching the bottom of the ocean. With enchanted helmets specifically suited to diving so deep, there wasn't much to worry about, at least in terms of how we were supposed to breathe. The only real issue we faced were the guardians, but Jesse was, of course, able to take them out relatively quickly before opening the Temple's door using the gauntlet.

The statues inside, which I was somehow only just realizing looked exactly like the giant colossus construct Romeo used, turned their heads to stare at us as we proceeded onwards, glowing green eyes piercing right through us.

"You're not afraid, are you?"

Afraid of what?

"What they'll think when they find out who you really are?"

I spared a glance at Petra, barely giving any thought to Jack and Nurm, and then landed on Jesse.

Why does it matter what they think? It's not like it'll make much of a difference in the end.

"Hm. If that's what you think."

But was I right? Discarding the fact I could only change so much, things were going to play out differently, some ways being more drastic than others. Just like the entire Portal Network journey, there were some things I just couldn't predict.

Just after the room with the statues, we were faced with yet another supposedly impossible situation, granting even more credibility to the Admin theory than Jack was willing to admit. Guardians, suspended in floating water, with the only things standing between us and them being a few prismarine pillars. But Jesse, being Jesse, was quick to form a plan to get past them.

"If we're able to distract the guardians, then we should be able to use those sponges to soak up the water," He said. A quick division of the roles left Nurm staying out of sight while Jesse and I ran past to act as a distraction, leaving Petra and Jack with the sponges.

I was forced to step in to help, though, when I noticed Jack start to hesitate just as he was about to throw the sponge. Without missing a beat, Jesse was right behind me to finish off the guardian once the water was gone, and Jack fell to his knees in despair.

"That was a close one…"

The inventory pile he'd noticed belonged to one of his friends he'd initially came with, Sammy. There was no sign of his other friend, Vos, though, and I had to try very carefully to keep my eyes off the cages on the ceiling. He was definitely listening.

Since I wasn't with them when all of this was explained, Jesse very helpfully gave me a quick rundown of what they were told. Once Jack was out of earshot, of course.

"He said he came down here once with two of his friends, but he was the only one to make it out," He and Petra shared a look of sympathy. "We didn't have any choice but to bring him with us, since he's the only one who even knows about this place."

I sighed. Even knowing all of this already didn't make the moment any less depressing to think about. "That's gotta be hard for him, having to come back down here after all of that."

"Yeah… But at least once we find the Structure Block, we never have to come back again."

"Right. So we should probably get going and find a way out of this room. That door over there looks like it's missing some pieces, so I'd probably start there." I really didn't feel like waiting for him to figure it out, and I figured a small push in the right direction couldn't hurt too much, especially if it was something anyone could tell by just using their eyes.

This game can be ridiculously easy sometimes.

"And then there's episode four's maze just before Ivor's cottage."

Oh no, I'm so glad I wasn't there for that.

If only for the fact that going would've meant having to cram myself onto that tiny flying barge with everyone else.

After a few minutes, the door slid open, followed by each of the cages, the last one containing an old 'adventurer' with a dark blue coat.

Almost instinctively, I could tell something was wrong. Minute details, practically invisible to everyone else, were off, revealing that he wasn't who he claimed to be. Odd, considering I've never met the real Vos in my life, yet I could tell immediately that the person who stood in front of us wasn't him.

Jack was too swept up in the relief to notice anything, and the others had no reason to believe that he wouldn't recognize one of his friends. As it stood now, even if I told them my suspicious, they wouldn't believe me. I had no choice but to go along with them and pretend I didn't see anything wrong.

But every step we took afterwards left me with a strange feeling I couldn't quite place, like he was specifically keeping an eye on me, rather than Jesse.

Look, in my defense, I've got a million other WIPs at the moment and I suck at prioritizing.

Midnight: Which is exactly why you never finish any of them, right?

Shut up.

Midnight: Speaking of, are you going to post that one draft you finished?

Which one?

Midnight: The one you wrote when you nearly cancelled this thing altogether.

Ehh, maybe... I haven't decided yet. Well, while I figure that out, I'd like to remind you all to stay healthy, drink water, and touch grass! And with that out of the way, I'll see you next time!

-LegendEmpress

Midnight: Testing season and final exams are coming up for her really soon, as well as work and perhaps a few college visits, all on top of regular life, so I ask you all to not expect anything even remotely consistent for a while, if ever. You know how Legend is.