"Go to sleep little girl," Alex said as she tapped Ruby's nose and giggled at her. Ruby cringed and giggled. She partially covered her face up with her blanket, to where her eyes were the only thing to be exposed. Alex smiled and shook her head slightly. "Don't make me go get daddy. You know what he'll do."
Ruby threw the covers off of her and sat up. She laughed and flopped her arms down onto the mattress. "I don't want him to tickle me!" Ruby pleaded, followed by another giggle.
"Than lay down silly!" Alex responded with a bright smile on her face.
Ruby didn't hesitate to lay back down. Alex grabbed the purple blanket Ruby had tossed off of herself, and gently covered her back up. After she did that, she got up and turned around. She leaned over and tucked Ruby in tightly, then giving her a single kiss on her forehead.
"Goodnight sweetheart," Alex said as she leaned back up to stand up straight. She walked over to the door, grabbing the small copper knob with her right hand. She looked over at Ruby one last time before flipping the light switch down, turning the nightstand light off after doing that.
"Goodnight mommy," Ruby responded.
Alex smiled and flipped the light switch. The nightstand lamp turned off. She then slowly walked back out into the hallway, gently closing the door behind her.
CLICK!
The door handle clicked. After that, Alex scoffed quietly once. She then began making her way down the hallway and back into the dining room where Daniel and Steve currently were. They were both sitting down at the round wooden dining table. There were four chairs for the table, two of which were being occupied by Daniel and Steve.
When they saw that she was walking over to them, they both looked up and away from the papers and trident that were resting on the table.
"She's asleep, finally," Alex mentioned, "almost had to come and get you to come and tickle her."
Steve scoffed and smiled. "I don't think she would've liked that."
Alex shook her head and smiled. "No, I don't think she would've. But she's asleep now. That's all that matters."
Alex walked over to the table, pulling out one of the chairs from underneath it. She took a seat in the chair she pulled out. When she made herself comfortable, she examined all of the papers and black trident that were resting on the tabletop.
"What's all this?" She asked.
Daniel set a piece of paper down and picked up another one. He looked over at Alex to answer her question. "Proof," he responded.
"Proof of what?" Alex asked.
"Proof that you two existed in the world where I came from," Daniel responded.
Alex squinted her eyes and tilted her head slightly. She began rubbing her chin. Steve looked over at her briefly and then over at Daniel. He was curious to know what Daniel had meant by what he just said.
"Where did you come from?" Steve asked.
"I come from a world called the OverWorld," Daniel began to answer, "a world similar to yours, but more--pixelated and more squarish."
"Well that's not confusing at all, is it dear?" Steve asked as he glanced over at Alex. She looked back over at him. She shook her head a couple of times.
"No, not one bit," she responded.
Daniel sighed as he picked up another piece of paper. He reached as far as he could across the table to hand the paper over to Steve. Steve noticed this and grabbed the paper out of Daniel's hand. He glanced down at it and began reading it mentally to himself. After reading the single-sided paper, he looked back over to his left at Daniel. Alex reached over to grab the paper out of Steve's hand so that she could read it too.
"We fought a demon named Nightmare and lost? The chosen ones? Legendary heroes?" Steve questioned as he shook his head a few times and then frowned. "I don't believe any of this."
Daniel sighed and massaged his forehead for a moment before responding back to Steve. "What don't you believe? You two were in this story. You fought a demon named Nightmare. You narrowly succeeded in beating her, but somehow you failed. There's only one way I can prove that you two existed in my world."
"There's no way we ever did!" Alex said as she looked over at Daniel.
"You're making all of this up, aren't you?" She asked, "don't lie to us! You're on thin ice here buddy!"
"Let me show you," Daniel said, "let me show you that you two truly did exist in another world before this one. You never always lived here. You were banished here by Nightmare. And I know exactly why too. You were standing in her way, and she needed you gone. So what does she do? She gets rid of you."
"How did she banish us?" Steve asked.
"That part I'm not sure about," he said, "but we can find out together. All you have to do is trust me. I'm not the bad guy here. I'm simply just telling you that you guys had a history elsewhere besides this world. Can you trust me?"
Steve and Alex gazed into each other's eyes, staring at each other silently for a moment. They were both contemplating what they should do. Should they trust Daniel? Should they not? Should they listen to him and hear him out? After staring at each other for a moment, they both then looked back over at Daniel.
"Well?" Daniel asked.
"We'll listen," Steve said, "but we have some conditions."
"Yes, anything you want," Daniel responded. "I'm listening."
**Minecraft Comes to Life: Part One arrives January 31, 2021**