𝙵𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐...
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𝙻𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍.
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟺 - 𝙲𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜
Walking back into town, Y/N felt like she was on top of the world. Side by side with the hero in residence and her best friends. Plus Petra and Vos, of course.
She wanted to skip out on the celebration and go straight home to bed, but Nurm asked her to stay with them for just a little longer.
"Jesse! Jesse! Jesse!" The crowd chanted in Jesse's honor.
A fangirl that stood next to Y/N let out a loud scream.
"I love you, Jesse!" She yelled and Y/N winced at the noise. The young girl seemed to have no self awareness as she jumped up and down, waving.
"And I thought I was obnoxious sometimes..." She mumbled to herself. Thankfully, nobody heard her.
"Hrrmmm" (You're jealous, aren't you?) Nurm had snuck up beside Y/N and spooked her a fair bit.
"Gah! Nurm, you gotta quit doing that."
Nurm chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hrm hmmm, her hm humm?" (No, but seriously. What's with you moping over here all grouchy?)
"I'm not being 'grouchy', Nurmie. I'm just drop dead tired at the moment with a pounding headache. If you were me right now, you would be 'grouchy' too."
Nurm shrugged and turned back to face Jesse and the crowd. Y/N crossed her arms and did the same.
She felt as if she was a bit rude, so she figured she'd apologize later.
Y/N expected Jesse to say something to feed his ego while he was up there, but what he said surprised her.
"It's like I'm always telling people—teamwork makes the dream work! Thanks to all my friends, we brought this amazing treasure back. There's nothing we can't do together!"
Jesse raised his arms, preparing to place the block down to show everyone. The crowd parted quickly.
"Happy founding day everyone, and you're welcome." In a flash of light, the obsidian wall appeared in front of the block.
Y/N felt a tap on her shoulder and looked over to see Jack, Petra, and Nurm. "Hey, Y/N. We're gonna head home. Me and Vos were planning on starting another expedition soon so we're going to plan it. It's up to you if you wanna come with, but I know you could use a nap."
Y/N's eyes lit up at the concept of sleep, but also at the possibility of another adventure. "Depends on when you're leaving. I need sleep first, but I'd probably go if it's a bit later."
"Hm, alright. We're going to go meet up with Vos first before we head home." Jack responded. Y/N nodded and they began walking.
After around a minute, Y/N jumped when she heard a voice from behind the group. She recognized it as Jesse's.
"Not bad, right? I think they really liked it!"
Petra turned around to respond. "Yeah, they did! Guess you've really still got it."
Jack faced Jesse next. "Yeah, other than having half the number of eyes I had when we left, I'd call that a rousing success."
"Yeah, that part's—uh—not the best." Y/N chipped in.
Jesse have an apologetic look. "Jack, I'm so sorry. I was really sure you had it back there."
"I don't blame you. I thought so too. Just as frustrated with myself." Y/N put a hand on Jack's shoulder when he finished.
"Oh, Jack! I—uh—Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just coming to get Jack." Vos had walked up from behind the group, startling Y/N's sleep-deprived brain even more.
"No, no. You're fine, friend." Jack started and faced Jesse. "Vos, Y/N, and I were just heading to the shop to start planning our next expedition."
With that, they turned around and began to walk in the direction of the house.
"You comin', Petra?" Jack asked.
"In a little bit. I'm still hanging with Jesse for now."
They soon reached the shop and after Y/N said some goodbyes, she went back to their shared room and got in bed.
Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out.
The light from the rising sun illuminated the cherry tree forest with a golden glow. A soft wind blew pink petals off of the trees and onto the grass and stone pathway below.
Y/N found herself laying in the thick barly. As she sat up, she felt pieces of the grass in her hair. Brushing her hands through her locks, she removed any of the grass from it as she got up from her spot and stood.
She recognized the place as somewhere she used to visit when she was younger. When she lived in the village with Nurm. It wasn't too far from the village, but it still was a good distance.
Sometimes, she'd like to come here to watch the sunrise. She'd sneak away from the small house she had been adopted into.
She told nobody about this place, not even Nurm. It was her sanctuary.
A small smile grew upon her face as she remembered the countless times she snuck out in the early mornings when it was still dark. Watching the moon set and the sun rise into the sky. Watching the dark colored sky fade into pastel oranges, reds, pinks, and yellows.
But something felt... off...
She wasn't alone.
She knew she wasn't.
She knew the feeling of being alone here. This wasn't it.
Y/N searched the area with her eyes, quickly landing on a figure in the edge of the clearing, where normal trees surrounded the area. The first thing that she noticed was a crimson red color.
Y/N took a few steps forward to what looked to be a person. A man, or at least that's what she assumed.
The more steps she took closer, the more she could make out what the figure was. They had medium length hair, a saturated red color.
A bigger gust of wind blew both of their hair out of place. The stray hair strands had obscured Y/N's vision for long enough for the red-haired person to disappear. She looked around herself quickly, spinning in a circle, only to find not a trace of the man.
Another gust of wind, they seemed to be picking up more.
But this time,
Y/N could almost hear something in the wind, only a whisper.
"When night reigns eternal and those of the underworld come to the top, only one man can save everyone."
"Only one man can save him."
A loud, booming crash of thunder shook the ground below Y/N, startling her. She looked up to the sky, seeing dark clouds rolling in quickly.
The wind picked up more and more, gust of wind becoming heavier. It became harder for Y/N to keep her balance.
More thunder rumbles throughout the area, sending waves of booming sound to the ears of who ever was unfortunate enough to be in the area at the moment.
The booms became more loud and more frequent.
Y/N covered her ears and looked around for any sort of shelter from the coming thunderstorm.
The last thing she heard was the sound of a tree branch breaking above her before everything was dark again.
Y/N's eyes fluttered open quickly. She awoke somewhat with a start, but it was a lot calmer than some of her other dreams.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she stood from her bed, opting to go and grab something to drink before attempting to sleep again. It had only been around an hour.
It had only been a few steps that she took towards the door until she felt and heard a loud boom that shook the house. Y/N figured it was just the beginning of a thunderstorm, though, it was odd that the same thing happened in her dream. Maybe the sound was carried into her dream? Maybe—
BOOM
Another loud noise that shook the floor she stood on. It took her a minute to become balanced again on her own two feet.
As much as she just wanted to assume it was a storm, it sounded different than a normal thunderstorm.
"Eh..?"
And another loud boom.
"Okay, that is definitely not thunder." Y/N mumbled to herself.
She quickly made her way into the hallway and looked up to see a hatch on the ceiling. The hatch lead to a small storage space that held miscellaneous items that the trio didn't exactly need, but still held onto.
Another one of it's uses was a double hatch that was on the ceiling of the storage room. That one lead to the balcony on top of the house. Nobody ever went up there, but it gave her a view of the area above all of the houses.
She unlocked the hatch and used her arm and upper body strength to pull herself up into the small storage room.
The room was on the smaller side. Almost like a crawl space except it was more wide and not just a tunnel.
Being careful not to bump her head, she made her way through the space until she reached the other hatch. Opening it quickly, she climbed up onto the deck.
It was windy up on the balcony, chilling Y/N's arms slightly. She took her jacket and garments off when she got into the house and before she went to bed.
She scanned the surrounding area, looking for any possible source of the noise. Just as she was about to go back upstairs inside, she noticed something in the distance heading for the gate of Beacon Town.
Y/N could almost feel her heart stop for a moment when she came to the realization of what the thing was.
Her eyes widened in shock.
"Jesse..."
"Oh no... No, no! No no no!" She was hyperventilating at this point.
Y/N clawed at her arms in nervousness, dropping to her knees.
In a desperate attempt to calm herself down, she curled up into the fetal position, rubbing her arms where she had previously been scratching. In her mind, she was trapped in the very same moment when she found her mother.
'No, this can't be happening. That thing is going to destroy the only town—the only family I have left. It's gonna be just like the city, everyone will die, everyone is going to—'
Y/N's thoughts were interrupted by herself.
'Get up! Get up! If you don't want it to be like the city, you have to get up. You aren't a kid anymore, you should know that. You can't just let everyone die, they need you. You have to help them. Your problems aren't just going to go away if you lay here, you have to get up.'
The mental voice inside Y/N's head reasoned with her.
Something about what it said made her shaking figure get up from the weathered floor of the balcony.
Choking back a sob, she swallowed and put on a brave face. However, still shaking wildly.
A few steps to the hatch and some of the shaking was starting to fade. Her nerves didn't die down, but with every step, she grew more confident.
'Come on, Y/N. This is you we're talking about. Y/N fucking L/N! You're the baddest bitch in this town. You can take down that fishy-smelling statue singlehandedly any day!' Y/N hyped herself up in her head. A small smirk growing on her face.
'I've still got it! I'm still young. I can beat it!'
She slipped through the hatch and into the house, maneuvering through the boxes and bags in the crawl space and into the hallway.
Closing back the hatch, she quickly went back into her room and threw her jacket and garments on.
The last thing that she had put on was her goggles.
With a smirk, she slung her sword over her shoulder and put her bow into her inventory.
"Look out world, Y/N L/N is here and ready to kick ass."
Jack was already near the front gate of the town when he noticed the noise coming from the distance. Everyone watched in horror as the statue approached the town.
"Jesse..."
Screams of terrified citizens echoed throughout the town as half of them ran in the other direction, while the other half stared in shock. A few bumped into him as they ran.
"You thought you could just run away from the Admin?"
"Oh no..." Jack paused. They had been walking back to the main area of town so that they could get Petra, but it seemed that their plans were being interrupted.
Jack quickly turned to Vos and Nurm. "Nurm, I need you to go back to the house and get Y/N. If that voice is what I think it is, the town is in grave danger. We need as many fighters as possible. Vos, I need you to hide somewhere—"
"I can fight too, you know!" Vos retorted.
"Friend, you don't have a weapon or any recent experience with fighting. I just don't want to loose you after just getting you back." Jack explained.
Vos looked down. "Well—eh—I suppose you're right. But I don't want to be completely useless. I can at least go with Nurm to the shop."
Jack placed a hand on Vos' shoulder. "Alright. Both of you, please stay safe." He looked over to Nurm too, who nodded.
As the two ran in the opposite direction, Jack watched them until they disappeared from his sight before he turned around to see the very same prismarine statue that he assumed he'd see. That didn't dull the shock, however.
He begun a sprint towards the gate of town, searching for Jesse. However, the sight before him wasn't a pleasant one. Not that it was particularly disturbing, just that the sight was a shock. Jesse had piled up onto the top of a citizen's house to speak face-to-face with the colossus.
Apparently, Jack had arrived a bit later. But still early enough to witness the chaos that ensued after the two had what looked to be a "chat."
"—But now, your true test begins. It is time you fight..." The statue kicked down the gate of the town.
"ME."
Jack looked up to see Jesse's look of horror as he watched his citizens flee from the scene, seeking some sort of safety. Watching the crumbled remains of the gate fall apart.
"Fight me, champion. Unless you'd like to see that happen to your entire town."
"Enough talk! Let's fight!" Jesse drew his sword.
The admin seemed to ponder for a brief moment before it pulled out what looked to be a large clock.
"Un, ugh, ah—hold on..."
'Did the admin just.. stutter?' Jack thought to himself.
"Ahah! Fighting in broad daylight is boring. Let's add some... drama!" To Jack's horror, the admin wound the clock and the sky had changed. The sun had set faster than he'd ever seen before and the moon was high in the sky.
"Ahh, so much for them. Just you and me now, champion." The statue spoke to Jesse.
Both Jack and Jesse watched as mobs spawned and began to come into he town from the broken gate.
"Don't let them down, mwahaha..."
Jack stumbled after something punched him in the back. Turning around to see a zombie, Jack drew his sword and prepared to fight.
Y/N panted heavily as she ran. She hadn't stopped running ever since she left the shop. Corner after corner, alley after alley, she made her way as quickly as she could to the town's gate.
She wasn't going to be useless.
Not this ti—
BONK
Y/N recoiled and sucked air through her teeth, rubbing her head where the impact was. Opening her eyes, she saw Vos on the ground in front of her.
"Vos?" She looked around to see Nurm close behind him.
"Nurm? What are you guys doing here?"
"Hrmmm hem hr hemmn." (Jack sent us to get you. We needed more fighters.)
Y/N nodded. "I need you guys to protect the house. I doubt the admin will get to it, but still. And I don't want you guys in immediate danger."
Vos got up and looked over at her. "Ah—alright. I'll certainly try. If that no-good admin comes, I'll be sure to distract him." Vos gave a smile and waved as he and Nurm began on their way in the direction Y/N came.
She broke into another sprint, going faster this time.
'There's gotta be a quicker way I can get to the gate...' Y/N looked around for any kind of ways of quicker transportation.
"Ahah!" She spotted a ladder leading onto a house.
'I can parkour across the houses!'
She climbed the ladder quickly, determination flowing through her veins.
The wind was heavier now. It reminded her of the dream she had. It must've meant something. It couldn't have just been a coincidence.
'Now isn't the time for pondering.'
The wind was howling and the heartbeat in Y/N's ears reminded her of a war drum. The beginning of the fight.
She could feel her blood pulsing through every inch of her body, willing her to move forward.
'I'm not helpless anymore. I am Y/N, a force to be reckoned with.'
~~~
A/N: Not too proud of this chapter. I'm still trying to go out of my comfort zone with my writing. When I tried to write Y/N's breakdown, I was imagining how she'd feel if she was experiencing memories from her past, feeling helpless and weak. But then, I tried giving her a revelation where she realizes her true potential and power. I really hope this chapter was at least okay. ^^ Oh, and just so you know, the dream is important later.