The taste was overwhelmingly sweet, almost bringing tears to your eyes. As the thick liquid slowly traveled down your throat, however, it became unbelievably bitter. Your eyebrows creased at the sudden change, wanting nothing more than to spit it back out.

Phil's hearty laugh was clear even through your internal struggle, seemingly amused by your negative reaction. "Have you never had an invis potion before?" He asked, watching as you forced yourself to swallow the last drop.

You stuck out your tongue as if it'd make the taste evaporate. The motion caused Tyche to start giggling while hiccuping.

"Why is it so  bad?" You retorted. Phil could already tell with one look that you've never drunk a potion like this before.

"Well, if it works, that's all that matters," Phil shrugged. You stopped squinting your eyes from the effects and looked down at your hands. The tips of your fingers already disappeared to the first knuckle but you could still feel them when you clenched your hands.

Phil collected the empty bottles and placed them back into his bag. "Now," He stopped laughing, his voice becoming serious, "We need to keep contact at all times. If we don't, we risk losing each other and getting caught. We also need to keep track of the people around us. Even if we're invisible, that doesn't mean people can walk through us."

By now, your fingers were completely transparent. Phil quickly grasped Tyche's hand and then motioned for you to take her other one.

"We'll keep Tyche in the middle since she's the smallest and most likely to accidentally break off."

Tyche's small hand squeezed yours as she offered you a small smile. The invisibility potion was rapidly traveling, causing the top of her head and her ears to disappear.

"Once the potion takes full effect, we have about eight minutes to sneak inside and get to the Nether portal. When we get there we'll drink another potion so we'll be able to go in without trouble."

You nodded, trying to mentally note Phil's plan. It was a lot to take in but at least the walk to get there was able to wake you up enough to focus. While you all waited for the potion to take full effect, Tyche was swaying back and forth, dragging yours and Phil's hand with her. The action seemed completely harmless until she lost her balance, stumbling forward onto her knees. Your hand almost lost grip but you were able to save it last minute.

"Tyche!" Phil hissed, stumbling forward with Tyche to not lose her hand.

"Sorry!" Tyche squeaked, pulling herself back onto her hooves. Phil brushed off her apology, deciding to just warn her to be more careful.

One minute later, everyone was completely transparent. The only way you knew you weren't alone was the pressure and heat of Tyche's hand along with Phil's voice.

"Okay, it's time to go."

•••

Sliding past the outside gate was surprisingly easy. The guards were too entranced by their competitive game of rock, paper, scissors to even notice you all sneaking past. How they were able to get a job in the royal guard you would never know. On one hand, it was beneficial to you at the moment but on the other hand, if those guards were paying attention there's a possibility this situation wouldn't have occurred in the first place.

You and Tyche followed behind Phil as he swerved around the crowds of people in the capital. There were several close calls as you tried to keep up with your group. You had to be agile and perceptive, dodging those who walked near. Several people turned their heads curiously, feeling the wisps of air or light skims against their skin as the three of you snuck past. Thankfully, the invisibility potions worked like a charm and their puzzled expression would disappear before continuing what they were doing.

Before long, the cobblestone path grew dark, turning into some kind of dark brick. The material was unrecognizable to you but the glowing material that was paired with it was easy to recognize.

Glowstone was fairly common in the overworld despite the material originating from the Nether. While nether people were not widely accepted by those in the overworld, hundreds of years ago the king of the overworld made a deal with those in the Nether. You don't know all the details of it but you knew that travel in the Nether was limited and in turn, those in the overworld were allowed to obtain resources here and there.

Your attention on the glowstone was abruptly stopped as Tyche tugged your hand, leading you off of the darkened path and into a narrow abandoned alleyway.

"(Y/n), are you still with us?" Phil whispered.

"Yes," You replied to the disembodied voice."

Phil let out a relieved sigh. "We only have 30 seconds until the potion will start to wear off. I have another set of potions we can use but I'd like to survey the area before we head in."

While you kept your grip on Tyche's hand, a large gust of air made the little girl stumble a bit. From the silence that resumed after, you assumed that doing exactly as he said. By that moment, you could recognize the outline of your fingers curled around Tyche's. Her fingers were digging into your hand slightly, keeping you close to her. A couple of seconds later, the same gust of air returned and you could make out the outline of Phil's black cape.

There was a bit of rustling before another glass object was thrust into your hand.

"Don't drink it yet," Phil warned, "First, we should form a plan."

You nodded, eyes trailing over Tyche's small outline. Even though you could feel her grip the whole time, being able to see her brought you more comfort.

"Like always, there are guards surrounding the portal so we have to be careful sneaking past. Unfortunately, there are also other tourists surrounding the area."

The information made your hands start to clam up. "Can we get past them?"

Phil sighed, his head tilting slightly. "It's possible but it would be hard. We need a backup plan in case anything goes wrong."

Every second that ticked by made the pit in your stomach grow. Not only was the anticipation killing you, but the more you could make out Phil's expression, the more nervous you got. He held an unusual frown and his eyes stared hard at the ground, eyebrows pulled down in thought. Clearly, you all were not in the best situation. It wasn't as if you could walk up to the guards normally with Tyche next to you. And with the place being surrounded by people, the danger of being caught, even invisible, only grew.

"No matter what, Tyche needs to get back home," You asserted, swallowing thickly.

Phil's frown lifted slightly.

"Why don't we just go at night?" Tyche questioned. She brought up a good point, if it was night time then there wouldn't be as many people.

Phil fiddled with his bag slightly as he swayed back and forth. "The longer we spend here, the more likely we will be caught," He responded, "I have no doubt that people are still searching for you and it would be easy to assume we're taking you back to the Nether."

Tyche grumbled, sliding down one of the cobblestone walls and onto the dark brick.

You moved closer to Phil so you were able to whisper to him. "You don't look too happy about this backup plan."

The man slumped slightly, whispering back, "I can't think of a plan that involved all three of us getting in the Nether if we're caught."

Your eyes traveled over his worried expression. "Phil," You tried to pull him out of his thoughts. His blue eyes rose to yours. "I-If something happens I'm okay with... being a distraction."

Your confession surprisingly took a lot of effort to spit out. Despite the fear you felt, though, you were willing to put everything on the line for Tyche. It was a weird feeling to care about someone so much but it also felt natural.

Phil comfortingly placed his hand on your shoulder, offering you a small smile. "That's very generous of you, (Y/n), but you know I won't let you do that."

The corners of your mouth pursed at the man's refusal. Phil took his hand off your shoulder, recognizing your disappointment.

"I have more of a chance to get away than you do," Phil reasoned, "And even if you were able to get away from the royal guards, you should realize that some people are looking for more than Tyche."

It hurt to know Phil was right. The Greshams probably already labeled you as a traitor and if they were able to get their hands on you... you didn't even want to think of the consequences.

"I have something for you," Phil spoke up, pulling an object out of his satchel. It looked like another potion but it had a different color than the one you held. It was an orangish-yellow and weirdly had a smoke-like effect coming from the liquid but there was no condensation inside the bottle.

"What is it?" You cautiously grabbed the potion, examining it closer.

"It's fire resistance."

Your heart jumped.

"I haven't been to the Nether in a while but usually fire resistance potions aren't needed and are only for emergencies."

Nodding your head, you swallowed the lump in your throat and set the potion carefully into your bag, tucking it into the corner to prevent it from rolling.

Phil nudged you slightly after closing your bag. "Don't worry. We've made it this far and the backup plan is exactly what it's called. If all goes well, everything will be okay."

His statement should have eased you but that nagging feeling inside you only grew.