[Aria's POV]

Carefully, I push myself up. My head is pounding as if a drummer was going to town with a solo on it. I hiss, and slowly lift my head. I see a blue eyed Enderman slightly hunched over in pain standing next to Anthony, who was also doubled over and gasping for air. On my right, Alexa and Mobius looked about the same, but the avali was sitting with his back against the wall. A small puddle of sweat was forming beneath him, but he seemed better than he had been while in the nether. Alexa looks a bit more relaxed as well, despite the situation we just narrowly escaped.

My eyes widen, and I flip around as I remember the last thing I had seen. To my surprise, the portal was off. Silence filled the mine we landed in for a moment. "It shut off the moment you made it safely through, Aria." I turn to look at Reginald, but my gaze soon returns to the deactivated portal. "No... He... I-" I slowly sit up, pulling my legs under me. I hear movement, but I don't turn to look. The worry flowing towards me was enough to let me know who it was. "What happened?" Anthony asks as he kneels next to me.

I take a deep breath in and lower my head. "I.. don't think Andrew will be able to help us anymore..." No one speaks at first, but I can sense Reginald's sorrow as if it were my own. Anthony lays a hand on my shoulder. "There's nothing you could have done. He knew what he was doing." I slightly turn to my friend, but I can't speak. I can feel tears threatening to spill, but I hold them back. Anthony simply stands and offers his hand. I stiffly take it, painfully getting to my feet. My body seemed back to normal, but I was still much taller than normal. Mobius was still shrinking, but everyone else looked about the same. I shake my head. 'Focus, Aria....'

I gaze around, finding that we were in the same mine we had entered into nether from. The ground was slightly more corrupted, but I feel a hand grab my arm before I can lift my gaze further. I turn around, spotting Alexa sporting wide eyes. She shakes her head, and I tilt my head in extreme confusion...

Until a flashback floods my vision.

"Aria!" Alexa's voice finally breaks through, but only as I see her get slammed in the chest by an Enderman and thrown directly into the portal with a scream.

I slowly turn, Alexa letting go of my arm. Further down the mineshaft, I finally begin seeing what I had left behind. My eyes skim over Reginald for a moment, but his expression is something that will forever be stuck in my mind.

Pure horror.

My eyes finally stop on the purple splatter that still coated and lined the hall. 

Slice...

Slice...

Left...

Right...

I can feel my breath catching, and my heart rate rises. The bodies were gone, but the blood remained, and the amount left behind spoke for itself. I feel my right sight tingle at the reminder. I try to look away, but I can't. My eyes are glued to the scene before me, and I can feel a flight instinct taking over. Particles were slowly floating into my vision, and I realize my Ender-side was wanting to get out of this place. I don't know how to stop it, and I fear that I am going to leave everyone behind.

"Guys-"

Everyone turns to me, and I expect Anthony or Mobius to run up to me. Instead, Reginald is before me, kneeling to see look at me eye to eye. 'Aria, you need to breathe. Calm down. You are letting your emotions control you, which is something you cannot allow while this unstable.' I feel a need to growl at him, tell him that I am fine, that I have it all under control, that I don't need his help. 

Instead, I take in a stuttering breath. He keeps speaking, and I struggle to focus on his voice. 'Do not focus on what you did. Focus on what you must do. Be calm.' I try to do as he says, but it's a severe struggle. It isn't until I feel three other people come around me that I finally start to feel my heart settle. My eyes switch from Reginald's to Anthony's, then to Mobius', and finally on Alexa. I suck in a deep breath, and slowly let it out. "I-I'm... I'm okay now, guys. Let's just... get out of here." Everyone nods, and we carefully begin to leave this... place.

It takes sometime, but before we know it, we have all arrived back at the mouth of the mineshaft, back where everything started, back where Anthony almost died fighting him. I suddenly realize this is also where we, or well, I, first saw Reginald. I turn towards the Enderman, who simply nods. 'Indeed. It does feel like a long time ago.' I nod in agreement, and we cautiously make our way over the wooden bridge. Below us was still a pit of lava, but despite the fact everyone looked more relaxed...

I didn't...

Reginald seems to have a similar feeling when I look towards him. "Guys..." I whisper, and they all stop. Apparently the look on my face said it all, and Mobius growls. He quickly turns to get off the bridge. "I knew it was starting to get too easy..." 

"WAIT!"

We all freeze as Anthony holds both his hands out. Mobius halts mid step, and Anthony moves one hand to gesture where his friend was about to step. "Let's.... Not make the same mistake I did before, alright?" Mobius turns to look, and I hear something make an odd noise, like a camera when it zooms in or out. The avali slightly jumps back, and he turns with a hand on his chest. "Yeah. Agreed." I don't need to look to realize that there must be a stone pressure plate. I turn to look at Reginald, the odd feeling not leaving. His gaze is narrow. I know exactly what he is thinking. "No, you can't get all of us at once. You're too exhausted." He turns to me, mouth open to speak, but I hold up my hand to stop him. 

I hear a hiss.

Then a crackle.

His head snaps to a halt as well, and his mouth shuts. A curse slips from my lips, and I feel someone come up behind me. "Uh, Aria? You okay?" I think of saying nothing, but I know better. Instead, I shake my head. I get an idea, but I can tell Reginald is about to tell me not to even think about it. Before either of us can say anything, the hiss echoes again, and I instantly realize what it all was. I growl and whirl around. "Alexa, grab my hand now!" She doesn't hesitate, and I hear Anthony shout that dreaded creature's name.

"Creepers!"

I turn just as Reginald is reaching out for Mobius. The creepers step on to the bridge, and I already feel my Ender-half starting to activate. Before they move any further, I hear their detonation sequence start. Anthony and Mobius are already running at us, and grabbing Reginald's arms. The creepers finally explode, rupturing the bridge on either end. Just as I suspected, the bridge begins to fall, just like the bridge in the nether had. I wrap myself around Alexa and close my eyes. I pray I have enough energy to teleport us both...

I feel our bodies shift.

Heat starts rising against my skin.

I feel the singe against my back.

Then I suddenly roll across soft, cool grass.

My grip tightens on Alexa until we come to a rolling stop. My back slightly hurts. I try to ignore it, but I knew my health was already low, so this pain was greater than it most likely should be. I carefully release Alexa, and she roll away from me slowly. I feel the warmth of the sun against me, but it wasn't a reassuring feeling. It didn't feel nice on my skin, like it had before, but it felt... 

Wrong.

I push myself up to my knees, and I feel someone start to near my back. I barely hiss out, "Don't.". I can feel the hand stop just above my spine. A gasp echoes above me and I simply shake my head. "Just... help me up, alright?" I lift my hand, and I feel the ruffle of feathers meet mine. I take my time to get up, feeling fatigue start to set in once again. I heavily lean against Alexa, and she holds me up somehow. "I got you, Aria." She says, and I only huff out my thanks. I finally lift my head. Reginald was no where to be seen, but Anthony and Mobius were waiting near...

"Our house?" I whisper, and Alexa only nods. "It seems you and Reginald knew where to send us." Her face twists into a scowl. "Maybe we can salvage whatever is left beneath it..." She stops there, but it seems like she wants to say more. I only turn back towards the small house. I know what she's thinking. With the possibility of a physics mod in the game, the ground may have collapsed and everything we had stored could be buried. We may have to start from whatever we have left in our inventory.

Anthony nears us as Mobius turns to head towards the front of the little hut. I wave him off as his concerned face gazes over me. "I just... need to regen." He reaches out for my shoulder, and I grab his arm. I'm standing tall now, slightly glaring down at the only one of us still fully human. "I'm fine, Anthony." His gaze actually startles me, as his eyes widen before narrowing to slits. I feel his hand start to push against mine, but I refuse to budge. "Anthony." I say, my voice slightly distorted. He finally stops pushing, and pulls back. I let him go and slowly lower my hand. He glares at me, then finally shakes his head. "Fine. Let's just see what we can salvage and get out of here. Reginald said he'll be back shortly." He turns and walks away, and I say nothing. I hear movement next to me, and I see Alexa step before me. I shake my head, and she crosses her arms. However, she doesn't budge and instead follows behind Anthony towards the house.

I finally come behind them all, and I see Mobius was stopped just inside the door. Slightly crouching, I see why. Half the floor was crumpled in, and the edges were barely holding up the walls of the hut. He was gazing down into the destroyed mine, and he lets out a slightly inhuman growl. "I see a few chests poking through the rubble, but everything else looks destroyed. Anthony nods, and Alexa follows the same. I glare down the hole. I could easily teleport down there if I had the health to risk it, but the chests were in a spot that I wouldn't be able to fit in.

"Does anyone still have string?" Mobius asks, and I already tell what he's thinking. It was the obvious choice, and anything that was left down there is something we could really use. I swipe to open my inventory, sucking in a breath as my hearts pop up for a moment.  They disappear in an instant as my inventory appears, but I try to hide my fear.

I had only one and a half hearts. 

I quickly grab the few string I have and begin tying it together. I see the others were doing the same, and none noticed my lack of health. I mentally sigh in relief and continue with the task at hand. Soon, we have a rope long enough to pull Mobius out in case he gets in a bind. He wraps it around himself, and makes two knots that make me smirk. "Daniel would be proud of those knots, ya know." I joke, trying to lighten the mood. Mobius only gives me a small smile. He then turns towards the hole in the ground and shakes his cybernetic arm. It suddenly shifts into a pickaxe. I only shake my head. 'Next thing you know, it'll turn into a dubstep gun...' 

Slowly, he makes his way down into the old mine, using the pickaxe to steady himself. We all gently hold the string in our hands, careful not to give ourselves rope burn, but also cautious enough to not drop it. He makes it to the first chest, and clears it with ease. "Food supply! That means the other may still have some ores or ingots in it!" I grunt as he moves, feeling the ground shift. "Hold, Mobi!" I shout, and he freezes. The ground beneath sinks a bit, and he  stumbles from the shaking. I growl, but hold my ground, unmoving. The others do the same until the shaking stops. 

After a moment, Mobius slowly begins to move towards the last chest. He eyes the cobblestone that surrounded it and I hear him grunt in irritation. "The chest is blocked in! The stone around it seems to be holding up the rest of the floor. I can't risk mining it!" I hear Anthony growl, and I can almost hear his mind clicking away at ideas. However, Alexa is the one to speak up first! "Glitch it!"

"What?!"

I can't see her face, since I am at the end of the rope nearest to the door, but I can feel her eye roll from here. "Glitch it, you noob! This is still Minecraft, with a lot of mods! Glitch it out somehow! Like with the hidden door trick using a trident?" Her tone makes it seem like it's the most obvious decision there is...

And honestly, it is.

Mobius nods, and I barely seem him duck down before disappearing from my view. I hear a few grunts, then a mechanical sound. "That's it! You got it Mobi!" Alexa shouts, and I wish I could see what was happening! However, the ground shakes, and I feel the blocks start to give beneath us. "We're out of time! We have to get out now!" 

"No! I've almost got it! Just a little more-"

And, as if in cliché fashion, the floor gives way beneath him. I grunt when the string slides against my hands. I hold fast, slowly backing up towards the door. The world was still rumbling, and I could see the floor shifting down inch by inch. "Move! Move!" I shout, and I struggle to pull with the others. Despite him being smaller, he was abnormally heavy, and I could only guess why that was. Arms suddenly wrap around me, but no pain comes from them. Instead, they pull against me, helping us haul Mobius out of the hole and get us all out of the little house. 

Mobius, appearing over the edge, basically throws a chest as hard as he can. I barely duck to avoid getting slammed, as does the entity behind me. "Remind me never to play catch with him..." I can only laugh as Reginald straightens behind me and releases me. He moves towards the chest as Anthony, Alexa and I haul Mobius the rest of the way out. Once he gets himself on his feet, we all quickly move away from the house and towards Reginald. He opens the chest, and we gather around him. Instead of an inventory screen appearing, everything was simply laying in the chest. My wide eyes meet his blue ones. "You all have been in here too long. It is starting to look... as if it was truly real?" I only nod my head before turning away. No wonder I wasn't healing properly. It was all slowly becoming more and more real.

I gaze around, spotting the sun starting to set. A cold, small hand rests on my shoulder. "Follow me. I know of a village nearby where you all may rest." I say nothing, but look away instead. His hand remains as the others gather around. I feel his grip tighten, but it was in a reassuring way. "You cannot hide it from them forever. They need you at full health." He looks towards the others, then moves forward. I shake my head, knowing he was right, but we have no way of healing any of us right now, and the last thing I wanted for them was to worry about me.

Cautiously, I move forward. A hand grabs mine, and I turn to see Mobius looking at me in concern. "He's leading us to a village. We can rest there." The avali lets go of my hand, and I turn back around to follow. I keep my gaze ahead and slightly down.

We were running out of time....

~~~~~~

WELL HELLO BEAUTIFULS

I'm back for the holidays, and I'm cranking out stories again! This is one of a few I am working, but I also wanted to let you guys know of a site that pays YOU for reads on your stories! It's called Vocal, and this is a link to my first story on there. If y'all don't mind checking it out, it would really help me!

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