Warning: Picture contains spoilers (whether Magnus or Ellegaard will die).
(Y/N)'s POV
"Gah!" Gill says as he trips, the slowness potion still in effect.
"Watch it!" Aiden shouts to me in slow motion. "Get out of the way!"
The potion has worn off. Gill falls flat on his face on the floor behind me.
I, being a person who, for some inexplicable reason, has some sort of fear of awkward moments, stand there, my mouth open like I have something to say.
I shake my head and say, "Gill, are you okay?"
"Yep, I'm fine," he groans as he gets up.
I let out a tiny laugh, then turn to the tall bookshelves thwarting our plans to find Soren. "We need to get out of here to get Soren."
"Yeah," Aiden agrees.
I'm pretty sure Maya says something, but I'm not really paying attention. What I notice is that Lukas is standing in the background, looking distant. He examines his violet arm. I walk past our other friends and join him.
"Lukas," I start, trying to find something to say. "Are you doing okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he shrugs. "Other than the whole 'Wither Sickness' thing."
"Are you sure?" When one of my friends isn't feeling right, neither am I.
"Totally," he lies. "How—?" He erupts into a coughing fit. "How are—?" He is interrupted by more coughs. "How are you—?" More coughing. He eventually gives up on what he is trying to say. He takes a deep breath.
"Look." He shows me his arm, which is an even brighter shade of violet. "I don't want to freak you out, but, I'm kind of freaked out."
I purse my lips. "We have got to tell the others."
"This shouldn't be a 'we' thing. You shouldn't have to deal with it."
"But it is a 'we' thing. If we're going to have any chance defeating that monster, we have to stick together. Meaning, if one of our teammates is down, the rest are as well. We have to tell them."
"Okay, okay. I'll tell them when I get to it."
I'm not exactly sure I believe him, but I nod anyways. I turn to our friends. I'm not sure, but I think I catch a glimpse of Aiden turning away from us, whereas Jesse is blatantly staring at us.
Aiden's POV
Lukas keeps saying he's okay, but I don't believe him. He seems so distant. It's unlike him. Is it because of the Witherstorm?
Is it because of me?
{Pretty short POV, but I just wanted to give a little bit on how Aiden's feeling about the situation.}
(Y/N)'s POV
"Hey, I have an idea!" Gill says.
"Okay?" I say, walking towards them.
He turns towards the bookcase and shouts, "Magnus! Help!"
Silence, as expected.
"Okay, I have another idea!" he states.
"Is it yelling to Ellegaard?" Maya says, slightly annoyed.
"Well, I mean, not anymore," he replies slowly.
Even though we could possibly be stuck in this place until the Witherstorm eats it, I can't help but smile at Gill's craziness. It might not be as strong as his, but I have the same personality trait. In fact, I'd say I have a little piece of all my friends in me. Gill's craziness. Maya's sass. Lukas's kindness. And Aiden? I'd say his love for his friends. It might not seem it at first, but he really cares for his friends. He may appear as a bully to most, but his friends are the ones who see right through that—even if a few of them also act like jerks—and he holds onto them as if they are the most precious thing in the world.
If someone were to ask me what I love most about Aiden, it would probably be that.
Aiden sighs and turns away from our group. "Face it; they're not coming back."
"Of course they are," I reassure. "They wouldn't abandon us."
"Really?" He faces me. "It seems like the only thing they can focus on is their personal problems."
"They just don't have good history together," I say. "They'll have a hard time with it, but they'll get over it." I pause for a moment to think. "Remember when you and I used to fight all the time about the stupidest and most ridiculous things?"
We really did fight over the littlest things. We actually had to share a room back at home. When I joined the Ocelots, Aiden's room was the biggest, so that's where we moved my bed into. We used to fight over really dumb things, like what we put in the room, who gets what space in the closet, when the light gets shut off at night, who snores and who doesn't, literally even who Fish loves more. The others would get really tired of our arguing, but that wouldn't stop us. Eventually, we learned to not be moronic, and we somehow got over it.
Aiden chuckles at the memories.
"See?" I playfully punch his arm. "And we're best friends, now!" And we're soulmates, now! No? Not the time?
"Yeah," he says. "I guess you're right."
I smile. "I always am."
"Well, if you're 'always right', then how do you suggest we get out of here?" Jesse butts in.
I turn around. "I don't know." I search through my inventory for something to fidget with while I think. It's kind of a habit, I guess. The first thing I pull out is the amulet. When I first see it, the green and red rods are glowing. They die down. I stare at it with confusion.
"Maybe it's broken?" Lukas says.
"Here, let me see it." Aiden walks over and grabs the amulet.
My brain thinks I shouldn't let him have it, but my heart thinks otherwise. Eh, brains are overrated anyway. I let go of the amulet. Just as I do, the white rod illuminates.
"Soren!" I gasp.
Aiden starts walking around, finding where the glow gets brighter. He stands in one place in a corner.
"Wait!" I stop him. "He has to be around this spot somewhere." I take the amulet from him and kneel down closer to the floor. "This has to be it. I guess we're going to have to dig."
"Yeah!" Gill yells as he punches a block in the floor.
I put the amulet away and smile as the rest of us start to dig. I am left alone to dig a downward tunnel. Once I finally get to an opening, I shine the amulet in the passageway. I can't see much, just a bunch of stone.
"Are we cool?" Gill calls down to me.
"It's a hole," I respond.
"Does that mean we're cool?" he asks again.
"I don't know." I think for a moment, then drop the amulet down. It hits the floor, and a huge colony of bats flies out.
"They're so cute!" I squeal.
"(Y/N) . . . ," Maya groans.
"Yes?" I look up at her. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes at me. I giggle and jump down into the hole. "I think it's safe for y'all to come down."
They do just as I say. Fish shakes his head after he lands. Lukas is the last to come down, panting as he does so.
"Everyone okay?" I ask.
"I just slipped," Lukas answers quickly.
I sigh and turn away. "Let's find a way out of here."
We walk down the tunnel, using the amulet to light our way. When we finally come to an opening, I look out. What I see is a bunch more tunnels, and a floor that's a little too far down for my liking.
"Holy cow," I pant as I push my back against the wall. "This is really high up."
"We have to get out of here!" Maya says, looking down.
"Yeah, I agree," I say, breathing heavily.
She shakes her head. "No, you don't understand. This is a grinder!"
I bravely look back down to see water rushing through one of the tunnels, taking a bunch of skeletons with it. The skeletons fall into a bunch of pistons, which crush them into nothing but arrows and bones.
"That's even worse," I say, darting my eyes away from down below.
Hearing hissing coming from behind me, I whip around to face creepers emerging from the dark. Lukas draws his sword and I do the same. We run towards the creepers, ready to attack. Lukas fights one and I fight two.
"Watch out!" Lukas shouts.
I jump out of the way just in time for a creeper to explode, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the tunnel. I walk towards the hole and see a walkway underneath it. The amulet glows brightly as I get closer to the hole.
"Here he is!" I say. "He must be—" Water rushes through the tunnel before I can finish my sentence. The amulet flies out of my hands. I attempt to grab it, but Aiden pulls me away from the edge by my waist.
The amulet rolls down the walkway and falls down two more levels. I run out of Aiden's grip to the end of the tunnel to look for it.
"Was that . . . ?" Maya starts.
"The amulet," I finish. I sigh.
"Just . . . jump down the hole," she shrugs.
"Are you kidding me right now?" I go back over to the hole. "I am not jumping down there."
"Well, we have to get that amulet back somehow."
I groan. I squeeze my eyes shut and jump down, exhaling sharply as my feet hit the floor. The others follow me. Lukas runs in front of me, swiping a creeper out of our way with his sword. Another creeper comes in front of us, one level down.
"I got this one!" I run down to the creeper and smack it into a wall with my sword. It explodes on contact, leaving a huge hole in the wall. Cave spiders crawl through the opening. "Well, that didn't work out as well as I thought it would."
We run through the spiders and jump down to another level. Many monsters fall out of tunnels behind us. We go through different levels, battling monsters as we make our way to the amulet.
At one point, I end up on a ledge with Aiden when water rushes down towards a level that Gill and Fish are on, leaving them with multiple monsters.
"Aiden, you go get the amulet," I command. "I'm going to help Fish and Gill."
I jump down to where they're fighting. I kill a few monsters before more water falls down to us, washing us off the ledge.
I shriek as I fall into the middle of the grinder, heading straight for the pistons. A creeper falls next to me, so I quickly grab it and heave it towards the pistons. The creeper explodes, destroying the device, leaving me a clear path to fall through. I fall into a pool of water, my friends following me. A spider pins me underwater. I struggle to get it off me. Once I do, it's sucked into a hole in the wall. I notice my friends also being sucked into separate holes. I unwillingly do the same, screaming bubbly screams the entire way.
»-(¯'·.·'¯)->A/N<-(¯'·.·'¯)-«
Isn't that text art adorable? 💘
So, yeah, I put another drawing in this chapter, and it does reveal whether Magnus or Ellegaard dies, so if you don't want it to be spoiled, don't look at it. If you don't care, then whatever.
To thine own self be true. (Sorry, just a Something Rotten! quote that I really wanted to say. I know. I'm random.) (Also, if you haven't seen Something Rotten!, then I suggest you do (it's a musical).) There are so many parentheses in this paragraph.
Welp . . . Word Count: 1,991 (short-ish. Maybe I'm just picky. I dunno.)
Update: Yes I'm just picky xD