I and Ay grunt with effort as we shove the doors, which are cemented together with age open. "Uurgh this is - urgggh - impossible - urggh-"

"I - urrgh - kno - wow wow!" The door gusts open suddenly, breaking through the vines and mud that caked them together all of the sudden. We go flying in and the wind slams the doors behind us.

"Okay... that was kind of creepy." I shiver.

"S! The doors won't open!" Ay shrieks, hammering at the door with all her might from behind me.

"Hang on!" I jam with her, but the door sticks firmly. "Don't worry - I'm sure they'll open when we come back," I say, turning but not in time to see the weeds begin to snake back up the door at light speed.

"Aargh!" We both squeal and back up as fast as we can, panting heavily.

"Can we leave now? Preferably with another door?" Ay whines. I shoot her a scared look, which she returns grouchily.

"Alright, c'mon - woooooow...!" I gasp, finally turning to see the city. It's the ruins of an empire.

"Oh my- !" Ay also gasps. Gold paved streets and obsidian hallways stretch before us in every direction. And on them sit majestic palaces and shops, all looking beautiful despite the obvious TNT gorges spread all around the city. And that's when the first light of twilight strikes the city, and the gold and amethyst and gorgeous prismarine are set ablaze.

"This is... this is... the most beautiful render I've ever seen." I gasp.

"What could have destroyed this city so badly? Those TNT holes are way bigger than normal, and there's not a single light left burning anywhere... it's like it was just... swallowed up, like that." Ay describes with wisdom beyond her years. I look at her weirdly and Ay seems to startle out of whatever daydream she's living in her head.

"Let's find whatever it is and get out of here." I shudder. "This place is kind of creepy."

"Ya... what were we looking for again?" Ay asks doubtfully,

"The Sword of Grief, hidden beneath the ruins of the world once mirrored."

"Well okay, since that makes so much sense let's start looking. Also, ten to one mobs are gonna' start spawning soon, so let's hope there's an intact shelter left." Ay says drily.

"Sure, once we're inside we can start plotting."

"Plotting?" Ay asks drily.

"Yes, what about it?"

"It just sounds kind of evil."

"Seriously?"

"What?" 

"Let's just find a shelter. That section over there looks less damaged, come on." I race down the gold road - yes, it's literally paved with blocks of gold, and down another ally. Ay races after me, catching up easily and pulls ahead of me to my annoyance. 

"S! In here!" Ay calls from a warped doorway of a significantly smaller looking house next to the giant quartz mansions that line the Way. I step into the small house soon after. 

"This place is okay," I say, lighting up the fireplace that sits in the entryway with my flint and steel. 

"It's more than okay! They have chests and chests of food!" Ay practically dances around the room. 

"Okay, okay, let's stay on top of this. We need a sword of grief, whatever that means to get rid of the voice, and it's hidden beneath the ruins of a world once mirrored. Mirrored is obviously something to do with the subconscious. The ruins but could be Spots, but I don't really understand the world bit... Spots is big but I don't think it's necessarily a world... and the sword of grief I can't even start on..."

"Maybe it's really dangerous?" Ay suggests, "like it causes grief to the people hit by it."

"Well, that could be my iron sword I'm holding right now if that's what it means-"

"S, you know what I mean!"

"Okay, fine. So it's a sharp sword - maybe an enchanted diamond sword? Or netherite! Maybe it's a netherite sword!" I begin to get excited.

"A netherite sword? I guess that could be, but then it's maybe a subconscious netherite sword? Maybe it does something like your grey-mist thingie!?" Ay also begins to get excited.

"But now we need to find it... ugh, I don't know!" then I remember something, "Kelia said she went into the woods... could there be woods farther down inside the walls? Then she said there was a structure... I bet that could be it!" 

"Maybe... if Kelia was telling the truth."

"Why would she lie?"

"I don't know, because she wants the voice to win? She might still be possessed for all we know and trying to get us killed - didn't she say when she went there she was possessed and there was some weird song engraving? We shouldn't go-"

"That's it! The engraving! I bet that's the key!"

"Wait, what!?"

"The engraving!" I say, beginning to get excited, "Kays sa'jsk creskadoh hit'e eis'ne 'ndohr 'tyr ndoh'. Aksil di'kans hit'e eis'ne oer 'tyr oer 'tyr oer sa'jsk wil'der eis'ne akso, di'kans sa'jsk ndoh' semod oer 'tyr sa'jsk o'therda yarweh 'forthe a sub'vice 'tyr o'therda oer so mir'ther 'forthe." I recite in its eerie tone.

"S! Stop it!" Ay looks terrified, "what are you saying!?"

"Of course, that makes sense! But how...?"

"S!" Ay punches me and a flyback, "STOP IT!" Then Ay's anger fades and she looks down, ashamed but still angry.

"Ow! Okay, okay!" I rub my stomach and gasp for breath - Ay's knocked the air out of me. "Look, when I translated it last time - I don't know why I can't this time but my connection with the voice I think might have been severed back in the desert temple-"

"S, what are you talking about!? The desert temple!? What aren't you telling me!?" Ay yells, sounding hurt. I take a deep breath, realizing I haven't been telling her some things without even trying. 

"Back in the desert temple I kind of... died I guess?" I start, wincing at Ay's sharp intake of breath, "well, not really in between the between-" I hurry forward seeing Ay's irritation surface at this mention again, "I went to the Master's halls - um the voice's master I'm guessing, or the voice's" I answer Ay's question before she can get to it, "that's the place where I got the mist, but anyway the voice said it could take me wherever I called home in any galaxy or planet - even Prisseters, but I had to choose fast-" Ay interrupts me, looking hurt,

"Then why are you here?"

"My home is wherever my friends are. Besides, there's no way I could consciously pass this curse on to anybody else - especially you or Jules or Arjay since you've been touched by the subconscious." I say. 

"You chose to stay when you could have gone back?"

"Of course I chose to stay! I couldn't just leave you, could I?" I manage a small smile. But instead of looking grateful or happy or whatever I expected Ay looks almost angry.

"You should have left me. Just leave me alone." Ay mumbles. I gasp but Ay stomps upstairs, leaving me reeling. Why does Ay wish I had left her? Doesn't she want me to stay? I decide to follow her up, seeing the only door at the crossroads open, I enter it and see Ay sitting on a bed, as expected. 

"Ay... why?" the words come out different than I wanted them to. 

"This is all my fault, isn't it? Don't deny it - you should have gone back, I want to die." Ay says, stunning me. 

"Ay, you can't die - you're my friend! Our friend! We'll find Jules, and then Arjay after I get the sword - don't blame yourself. Everything's going to be- !" I leave the okay unspoken because suddenly I realize I'm saying the exact same this Desid promised me when we first met in Thaytos. And nothing was okay. Nothing is okay. And it never will be. Then I remember something my mother said, "You're okay, Esse. it's in the struggles we grow the most..." and all of a sudden I realize it's true. I would never be who I am today without the struggles, and even if things don't turn out exactly right, it will be okay.

"Ay. Everything is going to be okay." I say, meaning it. Ay looks up sadly as if doubting what I say will ever come true. I look back as sincerely as I can, and Ay seems to perk up.

"What were you saying about the structure thingie? What did it mean?" Ay asks, still sounding sad and angry, but a lot better. 

"In the creation, there was Ender and End. Then there were many overworlds, and they were good. Then the end attacked and swallowed the overworld and a great mirrored warrior of the subconscious used all their powers and sacrificed themselves, or their bodies at least, becoming a warped voice, which was controlled by something corrupted. But before that, they used their last powers to mirror the overworld and create a barrier made of the shadow, or mirror image of the overworld." I finish, waiting for Ay to come to the same conclusion as me and Kelia.

"Ah... the Nether." Ay nods, realizing what happened. 

"Yes. I think it's hidden under the ruins of the world - the overworld's, mirrored image. And something tells me things are going to get heated."

Okay, so are they going into the Nether? But how, and where does that come in... if they are? I've found quite a few plot holes already, so give me some suggestions on how to fix them or edits - this is my first Minecraft story and it's waaay longer than any story I've ever written. 

We're getting into the last four or five chapters, and this is going to get epic! Please consider voting and read on!

Just Be!