[Axel's POV]
Axel: "Are you feeling well? Did you get hit anywhere?"
(The Survivor I was talking to seemed to be confused by my question.)
Survivor: "...I don't know..."
Axel: "Hah? What do mean you don't know? I'm asking if you're feeling any kind of pain from your body or not?"
(The Survivor looked like she was in some sort of dazed state, unable to comprehend what I was talking about.)
Olivia: "Wait, Axel, maybe she's still too shocked to answer. After all, she and everyone else were trapped in that Storm for quite a long time."
Axel: "Oh man, why does human psychology have to be so complicated?!"
(Olivia kneels beside the survivor, who is currently resting next to a tree.)
Olivia: "How many blocks am I holding in my hands?"
Survivor: "Uh... umm..."
Olivia: "One? Two? Three? or Four?"
Survivor: "Uh...T-Two..?"
Olivia: "Correct!"
(The Survivor didn't seem to look like she had any trouble moving her body.)
(but she had a really hard time trying to communicate.)
Olivia: "Then, if you're able to answer that, what's your name?"
Survivor: "...I don't know..."
Olivia: "You... forgot your own name?"
(The Survivor started staring into the distance for a while.)
Survivor: "...Yes... I don't know... I don't know...who am I? Can you tell me my name?!"
Olivia: "Huh?! Wait, so you don't know anything about yourself from the moment you went out of the Wither Storm?"
Survivor: "...Yes! I really don't know....!"
Axel: "This is absurd. So you're saying the Wither Storm inflicted every survivor with some kind of... what word was it again?"
Olivia: "...You mean amnesia?"
Axel: "Yeah! Can Wither Sickness even do that to you?!"
Olivia: "Now let's not immediately jump to conclusions, but if it really is true... then helping all of them will really grow complicated..."
Survivor: "I'm sorry... but I can't help you any further..."
Olivia: "No, it's okay. I don't know how long it'll last, but I'm pretty sure you'll remember your past. For now, we'll try to help you guys every way we can!"
Survivor: "...Thank you... What was your name?"
Olivia: "Olivia."
Survivor: "Thank you, Olivia."
(Olivia seemed to handle the situation well enough, so I went somewhere else to try and help there instead.)
(While Olivia leads the Survivor and others away from the wreckage.)
(I spot Lukas in the distance, looking for something.)
Axel: "What are you doing here, Lukas?"
Lukas: "I can't find them anywhere, Aiden, Maya, and Gill..."
(I got confused about who he was talking about until I remembered the old days.)
(His old gang of freaking bullies -- I can't deny it; I still really despise them for when they constantly harassed me and my friends.)
(but even I knew I shouldn't bring up this kind of stuff right now...)
Axel: "Well... I hope you'll find them soon..."
Lukas: "Yeah... I hope so too."
(I was about to walk away after that until Lukas suddenly called me out again.)
Lukas: "Wait Axel! Look!"
(I turn around, surprised, and see Lukas pointing at someone approaching me.)
Axel: "P-Petra?!"
(Petra was dragging herself towards us with her hand covering her forehead. We immediately ran to her.)
Axel: "Why did you come out?! I said that you should take a rest somewhere safe! You don't have to push yourself any further!"
(Petra looked at me.)
(She looked like she was going to break down.)
Petra: "No... that's not the problem... I'm suddenly feeling worse..."
(?)
Lukas: "The Wither Storm's defeated, right? It has to go away, right?!"
Petra: "...I was feeling well a second ago... but for some reason... it's kicking in again! Axel... please help me... it's getting worse..!"
Axel: "W-Wait... This is too much to take in... I'll fetch the potions real quick, then everything will go back to normal, right?!"
Lukas: "...D-Don't tell me... How is that possible... I thought the Formidi- Bomb destroyed it....!"
(I didn't believe Lukas's words, until I slowly turned around...)
(Behind us... the corpse of the Wither Storm... slowly began to move again... like it got reanimated...)
(the sky turned darker... blocks started flying around us...)
(and the roar of the horrible creature filled our ears with fear again...)
[Everything in the universe...starts out as just a block.]
[What comes of those blocks....is up to those who wield them.]
[And in every block there lies the potential to create... or destroy.]
[Our friends have traveled far and wide...in search of the Order of the Stone.]
[and a way to stop the Wither Storm for good. But even well-laid plans can go awry....the strong can grow weak...]
[...and beloved heroes can fall...the threat to this world -- to its very existence...is FAR from over.]
[Jesse's POV]
Gabriel: "Where -- where am I? What's going on?!"
Jesse: "There's no time to explain! C'mon! We're gonna get out of here!"
Gabriel: "What? Who are you? Do I know you?!"
(The Wither Storm is already hovering above us, and who knows when it will strike if we stay here! I didn't care anymore.)
(I forcefully grabbed Gabriel's hand, and we and Reuben fled from the crater as fast as possible.)
Lukas: "Jesse! Reuben! Where are you?!"
(I spot Lukas, Axel, and Petra a little ways away from the crater.)
(I immediately head over there before the wall of flying debris turns too dense to run through.)
Jesse: "We're here!"
Axel: "Jesse! Reuben! And... Gabriel...?"
Gabriel: "Who's Gabriel? Is this guy over here named Gabriel?"
(Gabriel points at me.)
Jesse: "W-What no... I'm not-"
(The Wither Storms Growl cuts me off.)
(Wait, no... There was no longer just one Wither Storm! They appeared to have... multiplied!)
Lukas: "We need to get out of here now! This way!"
(Lukas urged us to move quickly, but unfortunately, with Petra turning sick again and Gabriel's confusion, we really wished we could move faster.)
(The Storm's roar echoed so loudly that even Reuben's squeal was silenced by it.)
Olivia: "Guys! Over here!"
(Olivia calls out from behind a wall of dirt acting as cover.)
(We throw ourselves over and behind the wall.)
Olivia: "You made it!"
Ellegaard: "And Gabriel??"
(Ellegaard, who was also with Olivia, yells out, surprised.)
Gabriel: "She's talking to you."
Jesse: "W-What?! No! GABRIEL IS YOUR NAME. GODAMN IT!"
Gabriel: "Huh? MY name is Gabriel?"
Lukas: "Can someone tell me what the heck is going on?!"
Olivia: "Other survivors also acted similarly; it looks like everyone who got trapped in the Wither Storm for long periods of time got some sort of amnesia."
Axel: "What happened to the other survivors?!"
(Olivia turns her head away from us.)
Olivia: "I couldn't save them."
(Everyone goes silent.)
Olivia: "They all panicked and scattered in various directions. I couldn't save even ONE of them!"
Jesse: "Calm down! We know that the Wither Storm doesn't kill them if it eats living beings. There's still hope!"
Olivia: "But how are we gonna kill it now?! The Formidi-Bomb failed, and now there are THREE Wither Storms instead of one big one!"
Jesse: "I..."
(At that point, I realized we really did not know what to do next other than try to survive.)
Jesse: "I don't know... The best we can do now is hope Soren had a backup plan."
Olivia: "Are you KIDDING ME?! This is your best plan?! What if Soren doesn't have any more competent plans? Even when we escape, who knows when it'll catch up to us again? What am I supposed to do?! Wait until it eventually finds me and eats me?! Who knows how the people felt when they were inside that thing! It could be horrible inside there!"
Lukas: "Everyone just CALM DOWN!"
(Lukas interrupts.)
Lukas: "Look, the best we can do now is try to survive and NOT get eaten by that thing! And it's not safe here -- who knows when this dirt wall will collapse! We need everyone to find an escape route now!"
Axel: "Um, guys...? Where's Soren?"
(I just now came to that realization.)
(We were 9 people before the Formidi-Bomb exploded, and now Gabriel is here too, so that number rose to 10.)
(Counting everyone me, Reuben, Gabriel, Lukas, Axel, Petra, Olivia, and Ellegaard -- we were only 8 people.)
(Magnus is sadly gone, so we really were missing Soren.)
(We frantically started looking for them, but the Wither Storm broke down our cover first.)
Jesse: "RUN!"
Ellegaard: "B-But wait! Are we just going to leave Magnus's body behind?! I know he was stubborn, but not even he should be abandoned like that!"
(S- Stop. Stop reminding me.)
Jesse: "W-We have no choice; just run!"
(We're forced to abandon our dirt wall and flee further away from the scene.)
(It might have been survival instincts, but Ellegaard too eventually began to run away.)
(It wasn't like we wanted to, but the chaotic scene caused us to disperse once again.)
(Suddenly, an Enderman teleports in front of me, and I just barely manage to not run into it.)
(I guess they finally managed to escape Soren's Fortress too.)
(But when I looked back, the Enderman wasn't even paying attention to me; actually, it was walking away?)
(I looked around and saw more crowds of Enderman all heading towards the Wither Storm.)
(not even paying attention to any of its surroundings.)
(That's when I heard Soren's voice coming from beside me.)
Soren: "Those Enderman are running the wrong way! They'll be killed!"
Jesse: "Soren, where were you and what do you think you're doing?!"
Soren: "These Enderman are running directly into danger!"
Jesse: "You're putting US in danger every second you just stand there!"
(A wither skull suddenly gets fired and hits a nearby tree.)
(I had no choice but to forcefully grab Soren out of here as well.)
Lukas: "Wait, Jesse! They're falling behind!"
(And problem after problem arises as our escape plan goes off the rails.)
(Looking back, I see Axel and Petra falling behind.)
Jesse: "Axel, you have to move faster!"
Axel: "She's too sick. This is the best we can do!"
(Crap.)
Lukas: "They're not gonna be able to outrun it, not on foot!"
Jesse: "Then what are we supposed to do?!"
Soren: "There!"
(Soren points to some nearby horses that are running in the same direction as us!)
Jesse: "They all have saddles and everything; where the heck did they come from?"
Soren: "We'll worry about it later. The important thing is that we need to take this opportunity before it's too late! Everyone, grab a horse!"
(I guess there's no reason to argue.)
(Everyone chooses a horse to hop onto.)
(I narrowed my search to a white horse.)
(It seemed distressed with its constant neighing and nickering.)
(Oh great, I hope my comforting skills aren't completely down the drain.)
Jesse: "Uh, easy there, um..."
(I don't its name.)
(I'm just going to refer to you as 'a horse.)
Jesse: "Um, easy there, Horse-y? It would be a pleasure if you calmed the down."
(I don't know if it heard me, but it kept running in a circle.)
Lukas: "Jesse, you need to hurry up!"
(Lukas yells from the saddle of his horse.)
Jesse: "I'm trying! How else am I supposed to calm it down? Pet it?"
Lukas: "Um, yeah?"
(Uh, I attempt to pet it.)
(The horse seemed to slow down a bit. I hope I'm doing it right, cause I need to get out of here as fast as possible!)
Lukas: "Jesse, the Wither Storm is getting dangerously close; hop onto mine."
(Just as I decide to switch horses, Gabriel suddenly calls out to us.)
Gabriel: "Gabriel! What about me?!"
Jesse: "For the last time, YOU ARE GABRIEL. MY NAME IS JESSE!"
Lukas: "What are we going to do now?"
Jesse: "Argh, I don't trust Gabriel in his state now; it's better that you take him."
Lukas: "Are you sure about this?"
Jesse: "Don't worry, I'll get that stubborn horse to work."
(It's not like I wanted to change plans so quickly, but it's better for Gabriel's safety.)
(Lukas seemed to understand the situation we were in and proceeded to take off with Gabriel.)
(Meanwhile, I returned to the white horse, which appeared calmer.)
(the question now was whether it would allow me to ride it.)
(I have to take the risk, so I hopped on.)
(The horse didn't look like it was against it, huff, at least something good came out of it.)
(Before I took off, I got worried about where Reuben was during this mess.)
(and sighed in relief when I located him with Olivia, who already took off with her horse.)
(But man, I really should be the one to look out for Reuben more, shouldn't I?)
(But that thought is quickly interrupted when a wither skull flies and causes a nearby tree to catch fire.)
(The unexpected explosion causes my horse to bolt.)
Jesse: "Woah!"
(It wasn't long until I caught up with everyone once again.)
(Woah, this horse really is fast.)
(We were on 5 horses.)
(Axel and Petra were on the first.)
(Lukas and Gabriel were on the second.)
(Olivia and Reuben were on the third.)
(Soren and Ellegaard were on the fourth.)
(and I was on the fifth.)
Lukas: "Come on, horses!"
Jesse: "Whatever you do, don't look back!"
Axel: "Ah! I looked!"
Gabriel: "Watch out!"
Lukas: "Huh?!"
(In front of us, a purple beam suddenly causes a part of the ground to get sucked up, creating a hole in our path.)
(Fortunately, everyone reacts on time, and we all manage to jump over it.)
Axel: "It's gaining on us!"
Gabriel: "We're not gonna make it!"
Lukas: "Just keep it together, Gabriel!"
(Our horses were now entering a large valley surrounded by mountains, which should hopefully act as an obstacle and slow down the Wither Storm a little.)
(But before that can happen, the Wither Storm starts launching a series of attacks with its tentacle arms.)
(It may not have been focusing on us before, but it sure is now.)
(The first swings above us, and I duck accordingly.)
(The next suddenly hits the ground next to me like a spike.)
(I'm forced to dodge left and right to avoid the following attacks.)
(Those were suspiciously targeted against me.)
(Could it be something with Lukas's theory that it's one specific person that's getting targeted?)
Gabriel: "Please don't let it come any closer!"
Lukas: "I'm doing the best I can!"
(Gabriel over there seems to be entering a panic attack.)
(I guess he's starting to remember some bad stuff.)
(I hope I didn't overwhelm him too much by handing Gabriel over to him.)
Lukas: "Jesse, look out!"
(In front of us was another herd of Enderman. I'm forced to steer my horse around it.)
(While this happens, purple beams accidentally start sucking up Enderman instead of their intended targets.)
(That's when I caught a glimpse of something.)
(When an arm of the creature came down, an Enderman attacked it by pulling a block out of its arm.)
(When I looked back to the Wither Storm, I saw the herd of Enderman teleporting on top of the creature and repeatedly ripping blocks off the beast.)
Jesse: "Am I seeing Enderman attack the Wither Storm?"
Soren: "Enderman move blocks. It's what they do."
(Interesting; back then I said I didn't know what to do next, but this just gave me an idea.)
Ellegaard: "EVERYONE STOP!"
(Everyone suddenly breaks.)
Jesse: "Um... what's the hold up?"
(I looked over to see.)
Ellegaard: "It's a stupidly wide ravine!"
(Oh great, this brings back memories.)
(These things always seem to appear out of nowhere, and you almost never have time to react.)
(I fucking hate ravines.)
(And we just exited the valley as well.)
(Trying to go around might take too long, too.)
Olivia: "Guys, come on! We have to bridge over there fast!"
(Half of our group, including myself, went down to build; it didn't matter who, as long as this bridge was built.)
Axel: "Should we try deploying that speed-bridging technique?"
Ellegaard: "Hell no! That is too risky, and not even I managed to do it efficiently!"
Olivia: "Just focus on building forward!"
(The stress made it seem like it took way longer than it actually did, but eventually, a 4x4 bridge was constructed over the ravine.)
Soren: "Everyone, back to the Horses! We're in the open!"
(And a race begins between us and the wither skull that is flying toward us.)
Jesse: "Reuben! Over here!"
(Reuben jumps, and I catch him in time as my and everyone else's horses depart and gallop away from the bridge, to the other side, as it gets destroyed and cut into pieces.)
(Man, why can't we have fewer chase scenes that end in close calls? Anyway, we made it to the other side.)
(This area was also more wooded, so we had more cover.)
Axel: "Yeehaw! Whoo!"
Petra: "Axel, you're screaming in my ear."
Axel: "Sorry."
(When I looked back, the Wither Storm seemed to have slowed down.)
(I guess it really didn't like those mountains in the way and really wanted to eat them first.)
(On top of that, with the unexpected herd of Enderman, I think we finally managed to escape from its grip. Thank god.)
Soren: "We should use this time to get a little rest. I spotted a cave a little further ahead. We can use that to create a makeshift base for now."
Jesse: "Roger that."
(The cave was on a snowy hill above the wooded forest, overlooking the landscape from a small cliff.)
(We climbed up to it. Soren and Ellegaard, being the most experienced of us all, went in and lit the hollow cave.)
(I'm not sure if there were monsters in there; if there were, then they were eliminated pretty quickly.)
(The cave itself wasn't really deep.)
(Actually, it barely goes into the mountain.)
(It was a good place to create a makeshift base, alright.)
(We created a small stable for the horses near the entrance.)
(When everything was good, everyone went inside.)
(From a decorative perspective, it looked even uglier than our treehouse before we reached the Temple of the Order of the Stone, but no one really cared right now.)
(It's functional, so it's good.)
(Before I went inside, I took a view from the small cliff.)
(The snowflakes falling around us and the Wither Storm in the distance shining with a dim purple light really did make the landscape feel ominous.)
(if you ignore the Wither Storm's murderous intent.)
(But at the very least, it looked beautiful.)
(Reuben joined me on the cliff.)
Jesse: "Fascinating, isn't it? We made it."
(Reuben watched the view with an unsure expression.)
(I think Reuben is asking the same question as I am: We made it, but for how long can we continue keeping this up? )
[To be continued...]