(Flashback to before Ivor's fight.)
[Petra's POV]
(I started running back to the statue room we were in before in order to find Axel and the others.)
(But midway, I just started to realize that I had accidentally left Jesse all alone in that hole.)
(If something happens during that time, I'll have no way to stop it! Shit! I have to go back!)
Petra: "Reuben! I need you to call Axel and the others! I have to go back just in case something bad happens!"
(Reuben nods, and we split off as I turn around to run the other direction again.)
(Not long after, I reached the hole where I was before.)
(To my shock, he wasn't there anymore.)
(Shit! Shit! Shit! It wasn't a big drop, but in my state, it might be bad.)
(I looked around to find some vines or something to drop down.)
(It's a good thing this section of the building isn't well cleaned, as there were some dangling down from the walls.)
(I grab them and use them to go down.)
(Even though I safely landed on the ground, I felt a sting on my left arm.)
(Damn, this freaking infection! Eugh! I had no choice but to resist the pain.)
(With these vines, the others can drop down safely as well.)
(But I can't wait! There was some sort of light at the end of this cave.)
(I figured Jesse probably went there, so I naturally went over there.)
(The cave opens up to a library, and I can hear someone talking in one of the rooms.)
(I sneak my way over there and find the voices belonging to Jesse... and Ivor...? I poked my head out, and sure enough...)
(It was that little dickhead that scammed me, and both of them were holding a sword.)
(I pull out my own sword and approach the scene.)
(Meanwhile in the other hallway.)
[Lukas's POV]
Axel: "And that's how I beat Magnus at the Death Bowl!"
Olivia: "Woah... I'm surprised no one died there..."
Axel: "Well... a few people blew up before this, but we don't talk about them."
Olivia: "Okay then... Well, back at Redstonia, I may have indirectly killed two people by sending them to space."
Lukas: "Woah... that's crazy. Am I the only one who had a relatively normal day?"
Axel: "Mmm-hmm."
Olivia: "By the way, what happened to you and Jesse down that pit?"
Lukas: "A herd of Enderman chased us away. We landed on some waterway and dropped down to that statue room. What about you?"
Olivia: "Not what I was specifically asking for, but okay."
(I raise an eyebrow.)
Olivia: "Behind the large door at the end of the room was pretty much just a plain staircase down. I really thought Soren would build a better entrance way to his super duper secret fortress."
Axel: "Um... guys, do you hear that?" Axel interrupts us.
Olivia: "What? Is it Magnus?"
(Concentrating more on the noise.)
(It actually sounds like it's coming from behind us.)
(And it sounds like...)
Lukas: "Wait a minute... that's the sound of a pig... Is it Reuben...?"
(We all turn around to find Reuben running towards us, shouting loudly.)
Axel: "Woah! What's wrong?! Did something happen?!"
Olivia: "I thought he was with Jesse and Petra!"
Lukas: "That could only mean one thing! Something happened! And I think Reuben's calling for our help!"
Olivia: "Then we have to go back and find them!"
Axel: "W-Wait! What about Magnus!?"
(Reuben stops and starts running back, signaling us to follow him.)
Olivia: "Magnus is a member of the Order of the Stone. He can take care of himself."
Lukas: "C'mon! Let's not waste time!"
(We quicken our pace as we run back.)
(Back to the Present after Ivor's Fight.)
(In pursuit of answers, all our heroes found in Soren's Library was deceit and treachery.)
(Locked in a dark chamber deep in Soren's mountain, as the Order of the Stone rides off towards near-certain doom, our heroes must ask themselves...)
(Would they find a way out of this dark tomb? Is there any way to cure Petra's Wither Sickness? Would they find a way to defeat the Wither Storm?)
(Or will they remain trapped, as it continues its ravenous rampage across the entire world? Only time will tell...)
[Jesse's POV]
Lukas: "N...O...!"
Petra: "S...T.O.PHI...M...!"
Olivia: "H...U...R...R..Y...!"
Jesse: "C...O...M...E...B...A...C...K...A...N...D...F...I...G...H...T...!"
(Ivor, who was on the other side of the door, turns around to address us one more time.)
Ivor: "Magnus and Ellegaard may think they can stop me, that they can destroy the Wither Storm... But they are mistaken. And it will cost them their lives."
(Before any of us can reach Ivor, the bookshelves close like a door, forcing us to come to a halt before we all collide with the shelf.)
Axel: "G...u...h...!"
(Axel suddenly trips and is sent flying in slow motion towards the books.)
Lukas: "W...A...T...C...H...I...T...!"
(Suddenly, Lukas's voice speeds up.)
Lukas: "Getoutoftheway!"
Axel: "GAAAAAHHHHHH!"
(Axel falls down behind me just before he hits me.)
(The scene suddenly goes silent as everyone stops to adapt to the sudden
change of speed.)
Jesse: "Uh... that was weird...?"
Olivia: "Definitely."
Lukas: "Everythingfeelsreallyfastnow."
(Lukas stumbles over his own words.)
Lukas: "Hah... I said that really fast, didn't I?"
Axel: "I'm getting dizzy."
(Axel mumbles, still lying on the ground with his face down.)
Jesse: "Well... if everyone's fine now... we need to get back on track."
Olivia: "I just can't find out how Ivor closed those bookshelves like that!"
Lukas: "Maybe he built that machenism before he came? Or did he just build more shelves over the entrance and we were too slow to notice it?"
Olivia: "That doesn't sound right. Ivor came into this fortress around the time we have, and my eyes weren't deceiving me, right? That thing definitely closed like a door!"
Lukas: "Maybe you're thinking too hard. Maybe there's some cheap trick we don't understand."
Olivia: "That's the problem! It doesn't feel logical if I can't put it together!"
(While Olivia and Lukas were debating, I noticed Petra, sitting away from everyone, slumped over.)
(The fight must've put her in even worse condition.)
(I walk over to check up on her.)
Jesse: "Are you okay?"
(Petra looks at me with an expression somewhere between annoyed and dejected.)
Petra: "Why... are you asking me that..?"
Jesse: "Just checking up on you."
Petra: "Everything's fine! All of it. Are you o-- *cough cough* Wait... are you... are, you-- *cough cough"!"
(Petra's coughs stumble over her own sentence.)
Jesse: "Petra."
(Petra tenses up... I couldn't help but smell something weird.)
Petra: "Ok, I'm not trying to freak you out... but I'm a little bit freaked out right now."
(Rolling her sleeve up a little, Petra reveals that the purple stains have started to spread more over her arm.)
(I knew it. It IS getting worse.)
Jesse: "Petra, this is getting serious. We have to tell the others."
Petra: "This isn't a 'we' thing."
Jesse: "What do you MEAN? Yes, it is! We're a team. And they all deserve to know."
Petra: "It's just gonna cause panic, and we can't afford that right now. Look..."
(She jumps to a conclusion before I do.)
Petra: "If it becomes more of a thing, I'll go tell everyone myself. Eventually... okay?"
Jesse: "Argh... Fine, just promise me this 'eventually' will come?"
Petra: "Yeah, yeah, just give me some time..."
Jesse: "Alright..."
(Axel yells something from in front of the bookshelves.)
(I turn back to the others.)
(For a second, a thought that someone from the group, whether intentionally or not, heard our conversation came to my mind.)
(It's not like I felt anything, but the possibility did come into my mind.)
(But oh well, it might actually have been better if someone did hear that.)
(It could make things less complicated than it should be, but for now, I'll trust Petra's words.)
Axel: "Hey guys! I have an idea!"
Lukas: "Okay?"
(Everyone looks at Axel, eager to hear this idea.)
(Axel turns to the bookshelf, takes a deep breath, and shouts loudly.)
Axel: "MAGNUS! HELP!"
Lukas: "Ow, my ear!"
(Reuben jumps up in fear.)
(However, there was no response from the other side.)
(Axel looks at us again.)
Axel: "Ok, well, all right... but I have another idea!"
(Olivia sighs aggressively, putting her hand on her forehead.)
Olivia: "Is it yelling for Ellegaard?"
(Axel abruptly stops screaming and looks away, embarrassed.)
Axel: "Well... not... anymore..."
(Lukas comes to the conclusion.)
Lukas: "Look, they aren't coming back. We have no idea where they are."
Jesse: "Where they are? Did you forget?"
(I almost forgot about it until Lukas's comment helped me remember.)
(I pull out the item.)
Jesse: "We have this!"
Olivia: "Flint and steel? I don't get it."
Axel: "Wait! You're a genius! Let's burn these shelves to the ground!"
(Olivia slaps Axel across the face.)
Olivia: "Are you stupid?! The fire will put US in even GREATER danger!"
Axel: "Sorry..."
Jesse: "Whoops... that wasn't even what I wanted to pull out."
(I put it back in my inventory and pull out the actual thing I wanted to get.)
Jesse: "The Amulet! Even if they wanted to abandon us, we can always track them down again!"
(I raise the amulet, but for some reason, it won't light up.)
Petra: "I think it might be broken."
Lukas: "Hold on, let me see it."
(Lukas grabs the amulet from me.)
Jesse: "Oi!"
(That was a little bit sudden, but okay...? Lukas proceeds to shake and hit the amulet.)
Jesse: "Are you sure this is the right approach?"
Lukas: "Just let me get this working!"
(Lukas smacks the amulet one final time.)
(I'm surprised that thing is that strong, but it suddenly started glowing white.)
(Everyone gasps.)
Petra: "That has got to be Soren! He's close by!"
(Lukas begins experimenting by walking to different locations in the room.)
Jesse: "It seems to glow brighter in certain locations."
(Lukas approaches a certain spot on the ground where a carpet was.)
(The amulet starts glowing brighter than ever before.)
Lukas: "That's the nearest spot. It has to be."
Axel: "Maybe...?"
Jesse: "Well, that's the best chance we have to Soren. Get ready to dig, people!"
(Olivia removes the carpet to look under it.)
Olivia: "There's still a stone floor underneath it though. Trying to get a hole in that will take forever! Not to mention the pain in our hands."
Jesse: "It's the closest entrance to Soren. Trying to get out through the shelves and navigate that maze of rooms and hallways would be even a bigger pain."
Petra: "But, who knows how far down that goes? We might end up digging with red hands until we hit bedrock."
Lukas: "It's the best shot we have."
Axel: "PAI-GOW!"
(Axel jumps and smashes the stone block with his hand.)
Axel: "See? Easy peasy."
(Petra looks at Axel's hand.)
Petra: "I'm surprised blood hasn't flowed out yet."
Axel: "Yeah..."
(Axel's face turns red in pain.)
Axel: "It's kicking in."
Olivia: "Yeah... Let's just dig slowly and safely..."
(We start digging a 3x3 hole one block at a time, following the 'Don't dig straight down' safety protocol.)
(First, dig the 9 blocks from each layer before moving on to the next.)
(Everyone did their part, even Petra, who I insisted take a break, but she refused.)
Lukas: "Found something!"
(Lukas, who dug through a new layer, found some sort of man-made cave.)
Lukas: "It's a hole!"
(It looked like a very small drop.)
Lukas: "Should we drop down?"
Jesse: "It's just a small drop, isn't it?"
Olivia: "Well? Who's gonna be the first to go down?"
(We all look at each other.)
Axel: "Well, I'm not going first again!"
(*sigh* Looks like I'll have to volunteer.)
Jesse: "Give me the amulet, will you?"
Lukas: "Um... sure."
(I take the amulet and jump down.)
(The landing wasn't really soft, but it was good enough.)
Axel: "Is it safe?"
(I look around. It was really dark.)
(The amulet I was holding was the only light source.)
(It was merely shining in the cave I just jumped into, but I didn't hear, feel, or see any potential dangerous mobs here.)
Jesse: "Yeah, I don't see anything."
Olivia: "Heading down!"
(Olivia prepares for her descent.)
Olivia: "Don't look up! I've got to work up the nerve."
(While Olivia comes down, I sense some sort of presence behind me.)
Jesse: "Wait!"
Olivia: "You have to say that now?!"
Jesse: "S-Something's not right."
(I turn around to confirm my suspicions.)
(Suddenly, a pair of red eyes appear in the darkness, followed by a bunch of them flying towards my direction!)
Jesse: "Bats!!!"
(My vision turns black as I frantically throw my arms around to scare them away.)
Everyone: """"""ΑΗΗΗΗΗΗHHHH!""""""
(All I could hear were fluttering noises and the others screaming.)
(The chaos pushes me to the ground.)
(Oh my god. I didn't know what was happening anymore!)
Lukas: "Jesse? The bats are gone now."
Jesse: "Huh?"
(I open my eyes and see the bats have already flown away.)
(That scene was over.)
Jesse: "Eugh... I'm never volunteering again. But I think it's safe now."
(Why did that have to happen to me...)
(The others proceed to climb down.)
(First Olivia, carrying Reuben, then Lukas, and then Axel comes down and lands on Lukas.)
Lukas: "Oof."
Axel: "Sorry!"
(I help Lukas get up to his feet as Axel gets off
Jesse: "Are you alright?"
(Lukas feels his limbs.)
Lukas: "They're still working, I guess."
Axel: "It was an accident, I swear!"
(Reuben comes running to me, scared.)
Jesse: "Don't worry, they're gone now."
(I reassured him.)
(The last to come down was Petra.)
(She hit the ground with her feet, but almost lost her balance when landing.)
(It looked like the infection was really making her physical condition worsen.)
Jesse: "Is everyone else okay?"
Petra: "I just slipped..."
(*sigh* When will you tell?)
Olivia: "What's that smell?"
(As soon as Petra fell down, a weird smell took over the room.)
(I think that's the infection.)
Petra: "Just breath through your mouth."
Lukas: "Axel already does that!"
(Lukas chuckles.)
Axel: "Hey...!"
Jesse: "Okay, let's get out of here."
(While we start to walk down another cave- like hallway, Lukas comes to me once more.)
Lukas: "Sorry for taking the amulet from you like that. I was just so frustrated back then..."
Jesse: "Nah, it's not a big deal. It's okay."
(I reassured him.)
(He nods in return.)
(After walking for a certain distance, we see a light at the end of the tunnel.)
(It looked like a good sign, but as we reached that end, all we saw was a big drop to this wide open space.)
Lukas: "Gah!"
Axel: "Woah!"
Jesse: "What is this?"
(There were more tunnels like the one we're in now, all coming into this large empty room.)
(all leading down to some kind of hole at the very bottom.)
(It looked weird, but it was certainly impressive.)
Olivia: "We have to get out of here!"
(Olivia suddenly shouts while stepping
away from the tunnel ledge.)
Lukas: "What?"
(Olivia repeats her words louder.)
Olivia: "We HAVE to get OUT of here!!!"
Axel: "We just got here!"
Olivia: "You don't understand..."
(Finally, Olivia clarifies.)
Olivia: "This is a mob grinder!"
(At one of the poked-out tunnels, we see water flowing out, along with some skeletons sliding down.)
(We watch as they fall to the bottom of the hole, only to be met by a wall of pistons that grind the skeletons to loot.)
Olivia: "They're meant to kill monsters! Trouble is, they can't tell the difference between monsters and people!"
Jesse: "What's something so massive doing here???"
Axel: "Loots, of course! There should be a loot room down there, right?"
(A pair of zombies fall down from another tunnel, or I guess you could now call it a water tube.)
Olivia: "That's what interests you?! WE'RE GOING TO BECOME LOOT!"
(We make the decision to turn back, but that option is immediately dropped once a bunch of creepers suddenly start marching down our tube!)
Jesse: "Creepers!"
(Why did it have to be the most problematic mob! Despite her condition, Petra is the first to draw her sword.)
(She charges and knocks one back.)
(We follow her lead.)
(I attacked one and quickly retreat, like how I did on the bridge.)
(but the number of them was really making this difficult! It would be really easy for one to explode any minute now!)
Petra: "Duuuuuuuucccckkkkk!!!"
(Petra shouts.)
(She was unable to hold her line and was forced to knock back a currently lit up creeper.)
(We jump back and take cover.)
(The explosion creates a shockwave, blowing up a hole in the tube and throwing the other creepers back.)
(Our attention shifts to the hole that was created.)
(It led right to the roof of a nearby tube.)
(Going back the way we came definitely wasn't an option, so it looked like that'd be our best escape route.)
(The amulet shines brighter again.)
Jesse: "That must be it. Soren must be--"
Lukas: "WATCH OUT!!!"
(The creepers who blew back were coming towards us again, but this time with water as well!)
Jesse: "EVERYONE, OUT OF THIS TUBE!"
(The water gushes in, and we make a jump for it to that other roof. )
(The creepers swim past us into the grinder.)
(We leap from the hole and towards the roof.)
(I was about to hit the ground, but the water behind me suddenly caught up to me, and I ended up slipping instead.)
(Because of that hole, water began flowing out here as well.)
(Axel suddenly grabs me from behind to prevent me from falling, but in the process, I accidentally let go of the amulet!)
Jesse: "No!"
(It falls and starts rolling away from us.)
(There was a creeper on the roof we're on right now, walking towards us.)
(and the amulet hits it and gets thrown even further down, down to another roof of a tube even further below.)
Olivia: "Don't tell me that was..."
Jesse: " The amulet."
(The water stopped rushing out, and we all landed on the tube safely, but the danger wasn't over yet.)
(More monsters that somehow managed to escape the tubes were coming towards us, and the amulet was sitting further down below.)
(Petra suddenly charges and knocks the creeper coming towards us off the roof, hitting another tube, causing another explosion.)
Petra: "Come on, people! Let's retrieve that amulet quickly!"
(We got back on our feet.)
(Oh man... Here we go again...)
[To be continued...]