[Jesse's POV]
The tension breaks, and the Blaze Rods suddenly charge towards us. As Petra intercepts Maya and Lukas intercepts Aiden, I dodge to the left just as Gill tries to swing his sword at me.
Having missed, Gill charges another attack at me, but this time I block it with my sword. As our swords get entangled, we fight to see who can push the other one back first. Fortunately, it didn't seem like Gill was an experienced fighter, so I was able to overpower him after a struggle and knock him to the ground. Just then, when I was about to disarm Gill, Aiden's sudden shout diverted my attention.
Aiden: "Stop being so persistent!"
Lukas: "...!" Lukas lets out a sharp scream as Aiden knocks him to the ground.
Jesse: "Lukas!" I look over to Aiden. "AAAAIDEN! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR ANTICS!" I couldn't care less about Gill anymore; this time, I lunged straight at Aiden. I approached Aiden and drew my sword to attack, intending to end it with one attack.
Then, just as I was about to reach him, my vision suddenly got engulfed in light. "What the-" It was so quick, I couldn't react to it. The next second, my body is suddenly flung backward, impacting the wall.
Aiden: "Hmm, this glowing thing would make for a good weapon too, and it's all thanks to you for bringing it to me, Jesse."
Ivor: "Jesse!" As I opened my eyes, the room had this bright blue tint to it, and there was a burning blue flame where I once stood. My body feels like it got burned. What the fuck just hit me!? Shit... everything hurts all of a sudden. That attack really got me...
Aiden: "Let's go!" And just like that, Aiden lunges for the portal, gesturing for Maya and Gill to follow through, before disappearing into the portal. Gill, who got up again, followed Aiden through the portal.
Maya: "See you later, Order of the Losers!" Maya, who saw no reason to continue engaging with Petra, bailed out and slipped away from Petra's grasp, disappearing into the portal as well.
Petra: "Get back here! Coward!" The fight unexpectedly draws to a close, and the blue tint starts disappearing as the blue flame slowly burns out, turning orange before getting put out by itself. "Shit! Ivor, why didn't you fight?!"
Ivor: "I can't just throw my potions everywhere I want! The splash would've hit you too!" Petra hits the wall in frustration.
Lukas: "Jesse! Are you okay!?" I couldn't move, so I was still slumped against the wall. Lukas hurried over to me and handed me one of the regen potions we brought. Ever since the Wither Storm fight, we have always made sure to bring some regen potions everywhere we go, so good thing for that.
Jesse: "Huff... you're not hurt?"
Lukas: "I just got kicked to the ground; don't worry about me." I drank the potion.
Jesse: "Damn, it still hurts a little, but I think I can recover soon enough."
Ivor: "We've got to follow them! If they get the Eversource, who knows what trouble they'll cause!"
Petra: "Ivor's right. That Enchanted Flint and Steel was scary, but who knows what might happen if Aiden gets his hands on that thing!" We nod to each other as Lukas helps me stand up.
Jesse: "Let's go!" Without wasting time, we run into the portal after Aiden.
-------------------------------------------
When I saw the other side of the portal, I didn't even get the chance to properly take it in, as I found myself falling down the moment I went through. "Ahhhhh!" Then, the next moment, I suddenly hit the ground and bump into Ivor. "Oof!"
Ivor: "Whoawhoawhoawhoa!" When I got back to my senses, I finally realized that Ivor in front of me was trying to balance himself, on the verge of falling down the cliff we're next to. I quickly grab his arm before his body falls over the edge.
Jesse: "Don't worry! I've got you!" Ivor looks down horrified; the only thing stopping him from his doom is his right foot holding onto the edge and my arms holding him in place. Right then, Petra and Lukas hurry over, pulling me back and saving Ivor from this sudden near-death experience. "Huff... Oh, you are surprisingly heavy!" Ivor pants.
Ivor: "I am... the proportionate weight for my height, thank you very much!"
Lukas: "There ya go. Easy now."
Ivor: "Yes, thank you, thank you!" Lukas tries to calm Ivor down, but he pushes him away.
Jesse: "Okay... where the hell did we just end up?"
Petra: "That's what I wanted to ask! And how did that portal even work? It felt like we just spawned in midair!"
Ivor: "I suppose much the same way a portal to the Nether works, except to an entirely different world!" As we collect ourselves from that, I'm finally able to take in the world we just went into. I initially thought we might've accidentally gotten transported too close to a nearby cliff or ravine, but looking around me, there were edges leading to an abyss on all sides.
Lukas: "I don't believe it... it's like we're on a floating island in the middle of the sky!" In every direction, we could see the same blue sky we'd normally see when we looked up. The only thing contrasting the blue color was a darker shade of it coloring the sky high above us.
Normally, you'd never see the bright blue sky of the day and the dark sky of the night at the same time, so it surprised me a little. We could see the sun on the horizon, indicating that it was daytime. The only time you'd see a dark sky during the day would be if you were really high up -- In other words, close to or in space. So this made me question, Just how high up were we!?
Jesse: "That's weird; I've never heard of a 'Sky Dimension' before..."
Petra: "Hey, uh, do you guys see that?"
Lukas: "What?" When we looked down on the edge where Ivor almost fell over, we couldn't see anything that would indicate that there would be ground beneath us, so we assumed there wouldn't be anything else near this floating island. So we curiously went over to the opposite edge, where Petra was staring at something. Then, as we approached the edge of the island, a sudden, giant structure slowly appeared in the distance.
Jesse: "The heck?" The structure was located in a blind spot, so we couldn't see it from the other edges since the floating island was obstructing our view.
Lukas: "I'm starting to think Ivor was right... About this being another world."
Ivor: "I'm liking you better by the minute, Louie!"
Lukas: "L-L-L-L-Louie????????????????" Lukas.exe stops working.
Petra: "A city in the clouds... it almost sounds impossible." Now that she mentioned it, it did look like a city. The structure seemed to be built on a larger floating island than ours, and there were buildings occupying the entire island.
Ivor: "That's it! That's where the Eversource must be!"
Lukas: "Okay, but how are we supposed to reach it?"
Petra: "Yeah, that's definitely going to be a problem..."
Lukas: "I can't believe this. We fall through a portal into another world, and then we can't even go anywhere!? And where did Aiden and the Blaze Rods go? Didn't we enter the portal like a dozen seconds later?"
Jesse: "Maybe they fell off? Or they found a way to reach that weird city in the sky. We don't know what Aiden brought with him. He could've used ender pearls for all we know."
Petra: "Shit! THAT was the thing I forgot to bring! I knew I forgot something!"
Ivor: "Wherever they went, we know Aiden's after the Eversource. So they're probably heading for that city as well!"
Petra: "So all we have to do is get over there to reach Aiden. You think we can bridge over there?"
Lukas: "We didn't pack any extra blocks; you think the island is big enough for what we need?"
Jesse: "Elementary, my dear Lukas. The underside of this island looks much, much bigger if you look over the edge."
Lukas: "Really?"
Ivor: "Jesse's right. If we strip this whole island down to nothing, it might just be enough."
Petra: "Kay, then let's get to work." After each choosing a side to start on, we slowly start stripping the island, one layer after the other. As we go further down, the island slowly starts becoming smaller. At the last layer, it had gotten so small that we were forced to clump ourselves on top of this tiny 2x2 space.
Ivor: "Stop pushing!"
Petra: "I'm not pushing! Lukas is pushing!"
Lukas: "I'm just trying to keep away from the edge!"
Petra: "It's all edge!"
Jesse: "Just calm down for a second. I don't see any more layers under this one. I think that's all we can get. Let's start bridging across." Since we went down a dozen blocks, we're now at eye level with the city, so all we have to do now is get across in a straight line. I order everyone to stay behind me as I start building the narrow line forward. Yes, it's not really safe, but we need every block we can get.
"Okay, this is our stop. Everybody off." After a few minutes, I placed the last block down, finally connecting the bridge with the floating city. Everyone quickly scrambles off the bridge to the safer structure. We weren't inside the city, though; there was a wall enclosing the entire island, so we still had to find an opening to enter the city.
Petra: "Ugh... Ivor... seriously?" We look back at the bridge only to notice that Ivor had been building a small miniature version of his 'house' behind our backs while we were bridging.
Jesse: "Are you kidding me? You risked our block supply for this!?"
Lukas: "It's even crying lava. Did you seriously bring buckets of lava JUST for this???"
Ivor: "This is in memory of my lava house! LONG LIVE LAVA." We all groan loudly at Ivor's stupidity. Setting that aside, we turned around again, intending to enter the city, until a yell suddenly stopped us in our tracks.
???: "You're building!" A shocked guy with a weird-looking head, almost shaped like an egg, peeks out of one of the small doors presumably used to travel through the wall connecting the city and the edge of the island. We tried to approach him, but he'd only step back the closer we got. "I... You... I don't..."
Jesse: "Uh... is something wrong, sir?"
???: "I, uh.... You don't know...?"
Lukas: "Uh, no, we don't. Care to explain?"
???: "Y-You were building! Unauthorized building is against the law!" We send each other confused looks.
Petra: "Wait, there's a law saying people can't build???"
???: "Yes! It's forbidden!"
Ivor: "This... this makes no sense. No sense at all!"
Jesse: "Uh, can you explain why building is against the law?"
???: "I... uh..." The man started backing away further, clearly more anxious than before. "Oh, this is making me terribly nervous. First those other outsiders, now you..."
Lukas: "Um... did you say 'other outsiders?'" We looked at each other again. It seems we all landed on the same thought. Lukas turned back to the guy. "Um, would you mind telling us where they are right now?"
???: "Uh, I... they went to the Inn. I'm sorry, but that's all I know!" Parting with those words, the distressed man suddenly begins running away.
Jesse: "Hey, wait, wait, wait, come back!" We stormed through the door into the city, but the guy had already disappeared from our sight.
Petra: "Annnd he's gone."
Lukas: "*sigh* Darn."
Ivor: "I wonder if everyone here is that nervous."
Jesse: "...Woah." Once we stopped concentrating on that guy, we realized just what we'd walked into.
Lukas: "Wow..."
Ivor: "Incredible!" The architecture looked nothing like what we're used to back home. Everything had this weird 'egg' theme to it, and a lot of the buildings were colored white and yellow. The first thing that caught our eye was a distant building in the distance that looked like a palace shaped like an egg. Looking around, it seemed like we were in some town square; there was a nice garden in the middle, and there were some water streams on the side of the paths. People, which I assume are residents here, were populating the area.
Jesse: "Unbelievable... who made it?"
Ivor: "Whoever it was must have had the Eversource. It's the only explanation for the copious amount of rare materials they used to build it!" Ivor starts sounding excited again. "Look at all this wonder! The Eversource is capable of so many miraculous things... and when I get MY hands on it-"
Petra: "Hey, how about you take a massive chill pill and we find it first!"
Ivor: "Yes, yes, yes! I'm just getting excited!"
Lukas: "Okay, that all sounds awesome, but shouldn't we try and find Aiden first? As crazy as he's being lately, if he gets that Eversource... It would be bad."
Petra: "Well, if we beat him to it, he won't be able to get his slimy little hands on the thing!"
Jesse: "But we don't know where it is, though. Like Ivor said, Aiden's after the Eversource, so tracking him will probably lead us to the Eversource too, plus we already have a hint from that guy from earlier."
Lukas: "I agree; we can't let Aiden get out of control."
Petra: "Fine... but we don't know how big this place is. Are you sure we can find this 'Inn?'"
Jesse: "Welp... time to split up. If you find it or any helpful hint, notify the others. If you can't, just wait near that garden at the center. We'll regroup in about 10 minutes, got it?"
Lukas: "Sounds like a plan." We each started our search in different directions. In my direction, I saw a bunch of people waiting in line for something. I curiously went over there to look.
Guard: "Don't worry, everyone, your turn will come in time. Please have your materials ready when you approach the crafting table." The heck? These people were lining up for a crafting table?
Guy: "Augh, I knew I shouldn't have waited so long to eat..." My attention turns to a random guy waiting at the end of the line who mumbles something under his breath.
Jesse: "Uh, hey there."
Guy: "Umm... hi...?"
Jesse: "Wow, that's a long line just to use a crafting table."
Guy: "You're telling me? I'm so hungry, I could practically eat my wheat right here! But I won't! I'll be patient and turn it into delicious bread instead!"
Jesse: "Seems pretty inefficient to have everyone share one crafting table. Why don't you just build your own?" Right then, the guy began looking around nervously. "...What?"
Guy: "Hey, I don't know what your deal is, but I don't want any part of it. Please leave me alone now, thank you."
Jesse: "Wait! But I need more information-"
Guy: "I told you, no building for me, thank you!" And just like that, he turns his attention back to the line, trying to ignore me. I sigh, walking away. Jeez, what's going on here? Everyone seems afraid of 'building' and there's a policy saying you can't own crafting tables? An everyday item? Wow, I wonder who the heck is making those rules...
[Meanwhile - Ivor's POV]
Ivor: "Uh, excuse me." I address a guard standing beside a weird structure with a lone furnace inside it.
Guard: "Are you on the schedule for the furnace this afternoon? Didn't think there were more appointments today. Hang on, let me see here." The guard pulls out a book and proceeds to check its contents.
Ivor: "Appointment? Why would I need an appointment to use an everyday item everyone uses!?"
Guard: "By city law, acts of crafting are only authorized with the Founder's permission. This appointment system is in place to safeguard against any illegal building or crafting. If you wish to make an appointment, speak to the Founder."
Ivor: "Hah? What kind of law is that!? Why would you prohibit the most ordinary thing in the world?!"
Guard: "Look, I'm not sure under what rock you're living, but those are the rules the Founder enforced, and it has been like this since we exist. So please respect these laws."
Ivor: "What the hell?! What kind of society is this!? Is the 'Founder' a dictator or something!?"
Guard: "HEY! ARE YOU DISRESPECTING THE FOUNDER?!" The guard draws a sword, and I realize that I probably went too far.
Ivor: "Wait! Hold on, hold on! I was joking! I humbly apologize, okay???" The guard glares at me with doubtful eyes.
Guard: "Please refrain from using such language ever again. This is a warning, next time you're landing in jail, D-o Y-o-u U-n-d-e-r-s-t-a-n-d?"
Ivor: Yes, yes, yes! I'm sorry, sir!" The guard pulled back his sword but continued to stare at me even when I left the area. Jeez, some people are so sensitive. I was just telling the truth, wasn't I? And to think this kind of civilization has its hands on the Eversource... For a city with such beautiful architecture, I can't say the same about their ideology. Oh well, I'm probably already on a watch list for that remark. Perhaps I should return to the others before I actually get arrested...
[Meanwhile - Petra's POV]
Walking by the different houses, I quietly observed the surroundings and the townspeople for any clues. Walking past two townspeople talking in front of one of the houses, I overheard what they were saying.
Brown-haired Girl: "Can't believe they just built their way right into town."
Egghead: "I know! I've never seen anything like it!" Hey, wait a minute... I turn around and face the two.
Petra: "Wait a minute... aren't you the guy from earlier?"
Egghead: "Oh... hello again..." He gave a nervous smile as I stared at them back.
Brown-haired Girl: "Umm... can we... uh... do anything for you?"
Petra: "Last time, you mentioned an 'Inn'. Can you explain where it is exactly?" Then Egghead whispered something to the girl.
Egghead: "(They must be looking for Milo.)"
Brown-haired Girl: "(Shh!)"
Egghead: "Uh, I mean, no, no, no! We don't know any Milo!" I continued staring suspiciously while crossing my arms.
Petra: "Really? 'Cause it sure sounds like you know 'him'."
Egghead: "Uh, okay, okay, we know OF him. If you really wanna find him-"
Brown-haired Girl: "He's the kind of messy-looking guy."
Egghead: "Suspenders always falling down."
Brown-haired Girl: "So messy!"
Petra: "Uh, yeah, thanks for that vague description, but my question was WHERE he is, not HOW he looks." The two gave me a nervous smile again. Right then, I observed that the guy stepped back a little, so I grabbed his shoulder before he could make his escape. "Hold it right there; I still need something from you." The guy turned around, scared.
Egghead: "P-Please don't-"
Petra: "Oh, relax, I just want to know-" Before I finish my sentence, the egghead slips out of my grasp and runs away again. I turn to the girl, but she proceeds to run away as well. "R-Really!? I just wanted to know one single thing! Is everyone around here a wuss or what?! I wasn't even that aggressive!" Great. How the hell am I supposed to get information now without straight up taking people hostage? I sigh. If everyone here acts like this, I might as well head back to the others. I hope Jesse, Lukas, and Ivor have better luck in their search...
To be continued...