As the purple cleared from their vision and they stepped out of the flush obsidian- something Alex wasn't used to with his normal crappy portals -they both looked around in opposite directions to survey the area. There were no mobs in sight, and whatever hallway they were in was well lit up and clean.

"This is fancy." Alex stated.

"Yeah- the braver hermits built most of them." Stress said.

They turned the corner to a purple obsidian and crying obsidian tunnel. It had soul sand on either side for extra speed with soul speed boots, a minecart rail in the center. It was also pretty wide which Alex assumed was for the crazy hermits that wanted to fly in this mess of a place. He didn't see how anyone could make the sharp turn at the end of the hallway flying, but shrugged anyway. He had never even used an elytra; he was no expert.

"Me and Iskall are working on this tunnel. It's not finished though," She said.

"Well I have to say I'm impressed. Mob, ghast ball, and lava proof!"

"Fanks! But Iskall's doing most of the real work, I'm just gathering the resources."

That sounded like real work to Alex, who hated to gather resources even in small amounts, but he didn't push it.

They fell into a comfortable silence after that, walking instead of the minecarts because apparently the track was cut off a little ways after the corner.

Once they had reached the end of the tunnel, Stress hesitantly paused before jumping down the block. Alex casually walked off, ignoring the jab through his leg from the harsh impact.

"When did netherrack get so tough-" He looked down, and noticed it was a stray crafting table he had landed on instead. "Well that explains it." He grumbled to himself and kept going with a quick survey of the area.

There was now a towering building in front of them, like a black pyramid that had entrances on all four sides.

"Ren built 'is one." Stress said, her accent muffling the word "this"

"The guy from earlier?" Alex asked, remembering the fist bump guy. "That said "dude" too much?" He added.

"HA!" Stress cackled. She muffled it quickly and nodded. "That's the one. A funny way to describe him too. Ren helped me run for mayor actually."

"Wait, you ran for mayor!?" Alex asked in surprise. "Wait- Hermitcraft has a mayor?" He backtracked. "I thought Zooma just ran everything."

"Yeah, Grian set it up and all, Mumbo hermit-challenged me-" She chuckled, unsure if that was a word "-to run so he wouldn't be lonely, and then Scar ran with Bdubs." She explained. It was too many names for Alex to really keep track of, but it was still nice to listen to everything.

"Wow, you guys all sound so close." He smiled sadly, avoiding eye contact.

She was about to say something, before her communicator buzzed and she paused.

They were at the other side of the black pyramid, and Alex got a glance at the tall blue structure next to them. There was a bit of space with netherrack in between, but the distance still wasn't enough to see the whole thing at once.

It had stained blue glass around it, so he could see the tall portal inside and the various tunnels extending from the sides. It was suspended over lava and there was a crack in the far end, clearly from an early ghast ball explosion that hadn't been cleaned up.

"Huh that's weird." Stress mumbled.

"What is it?" Alex asked.

"X gave me the coords, which are really far off-" Stress stopped herself, like she had revealed too much.

"So all of these- besides the oatmeal -are for Xisuma then?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uhm- sort of, not really. We are seeing him though." She said vaguely. It was clear she was still trying to keep it a secret, so he dropped it.

"Well where are the coords leading us?" He asked, changing the subject with a slight sigh.

"Uh- gimme a sec, I'm not good at directions."

He chuckled, "Well don't ask for me to help, I don't even know how coords work."

"Wait- do you have a communicator?" She asked.

"Oh yeah I do, but I never really use it."

Stress hummed and continued to try to figure out which way to go. She moved back and forth a little and looked upwards.

"Ok, it's this way I fink."

They branched off from the main area and towards a more open area, netherrack for miles. The cookie baskets were starting to feel more like weights in his hands, but if Stress wasn't complaining with the bigger load and diamond armor over a probably suffocating jacket, he wasn't going to either.

"Hey, maybe X could give me a lesson on the communicator-stuff." Alex asked a little awkwardly to start a conversation.

"That's a great idea, luv!" She encouraged, smiling at the knowledge that this was his way of maybe reaching out a little more. "Maybe I'll join ya. I could use a refresher on this stuff. Or Iskall-Man could do it if X is busy. E's real good at this stuff."

He didn't recognize the name, other than the person that helped Stress with the tunnel, but hummed anyway.

The area was fully open now, and mobs littered the place in groups. Stress visibly tensed and picked up her pace. It was clear she couldn't run for long with how much she was carrying, so speed walking her way to safety was the way to go.

A group of piglins was ahead of them, and Stress stopped dead in her tracks with wide eyes. Alex kept continuing for a few steps before he noticed her and paused to turn around.

"Hey what's wrong?" He asked. He looked at the group and back at her when she didn't respond. "You have golden boots; They won't hurt you."

"What about you?" She asked. He wasn't wearing any gold, so if they noticed him, they would probably try to attack.

"Oh well uh- do you have a pick axe I can borrow?"

She gave him a confused look, before handing him an iron one that was halfway worn down. She didn't know why she had this instead of her normal diamond, but she must've switched them up in the rush to get ready for the nether and forgotten.

Alex picked at a nearby gold patch and got some ingots. Instead of crafting them into bars and making boots like she expected, he held them in his fist. The sword was switched to his other hand, and the cookie baskets were both uncomfortably looped on his arm.

He motioned to keep going. She hesitantly followed, glancing down at her boots to make sure they were actually there and they were golden before making her feet move forwards.

Once they reached the group, the piglins looked Alex up and down and scowled. Before they raised their weapons and rushed forwards though, Alex threw the gold to the side, catching their attention instantly. He rushed forwards and Stress followed, glancing at the distracted piglins in awe.

They got a good distance away from the piglin group before either of them spoke.

"Woah, that was so cool!" Stress cheered.

"Thanks!"

They continued along, Stress checking the communicator every so often to keep them on track.

There was a shriek behind them and Stress froze in her tracks with wide eyes. She fumbled with her sword and dropped it, flinging her arms in front of her face and waiting for the impact.

Alex jumped in front, dropping the baskets he was holding, and squinted at the ghast ball as it flew towards them. He thinned his eyes, tilted his sword and swung it back at the perfect moment to hit it back. It blasted off to the side on another wall.

Stress opened her eyes. "Huh?"

The ghast was still alive and with glowing red eyes, opened it's jaw and blasted another one straight for them.

Alex glared and deflected it again, both hands on the sword, and the explosion hit a low ceiling, breaking netherrack off and setting fire to what was left.

"Do you have a bow?" Alex asked quickly without looking back.

"U-uh, no I don't!" Stress said,

"Ok, stand back. I think it's focused on me now."

A third ghast ball aimed for Alex, seemingly bigger than the last two.

Alex waited until it was close enough and swung again, but he was more focused, and aimed it more carefully. It flung back, and exploded when it hit its target.

With another shriek ringing through the air, a teardrop fell from the sky and into the lava lake below. A second after, the iron sword cracked and dissolved in his hand. It was out of durability.

"Woah..." Stress stared in awe at him, then the empty sky, and then him again.

He hummed and nodded casually, and picked up the baskets he had dropped before. The spider string she had put on them was helping now, keeping all of the cookies contained and safe. They both continued walking.

"Thanks for saving me. I thought both me and cookies were done for." She chuckled a little nervously, adrenaline still in her veins.

"No problem," He shrugged.

After a moment of silence, Stress spoke up again.

"How are you so comfortable here?" Stress asked carefully.

"Hmm? Oh, I lived in the nether once, till the heat got to my head and I couldn't stand it anymore. Got used to the danger I guess."

"Is that why you have lava proof gloves?" She asked.

He was a little taken back, not expecting that question but chuckled with his answer. "Yeah, but they're helpful for the overworld too. There's lava lakes up there."

She raised an eyebrow before waving her hand out to the landscape next to them. There was a massive lava lake, with the dust of a basalt delta in the distance covering the home of the literally-made-of-lava magma cubes. Streams of lava from the ceiling poured down, and from the view, there were at least 3 fires in sight. "Not like this!"

"Fair point-" He replied.

Stress glanced at her communicator again and squinted at the coords. She glanced around, and saw a glowing portal near a wall with some holiday decorations around it. A pine tree made of concrete (a real pine would be miserable) was decorated with lights, and a fake snowman was on the other side.

"We made it!" Stress cheered.

"Finally, these cookie baskets are getting heavy." Alex said, adjusting his grip on them.

"Yeah, and the thing about the heat getting to ya, I feel that now."

"Duh! You're in full armor and snow gear!"

They both burst into giggles as they reached the frame of the portal.

"Well the snow gear will come in handy for the other side of this." She said with a grin.

They nodded, and stepped through together, cookie baskets in hand. Whatever hermit wanted this many cookies this far away better be pretty damn appreciative for the work they put in. Alex welcomed the immediate cold breeze he felt as they popped back into the overworld, but as the swirling in his vision stopped and the purple faded, the scene was a complete surprise.

"What."

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Little longer than normal, and only a few more chapters to go! If you like this, maybe comment or vote? Thanks for reading!