Jesse's POV.
We gaped in shock at her wound.
"What happened?" Kitsune asked, stopping the images and grabbing some bandages from her inventory.
"...Long story." Griffin winced as Kitsune pressed the bandages against her wound, stanching the flow of blood. "Anyways, what were you guys doing?"
"I was showing them the past," Kitsune said, motioning to the orb.
"Continue." She gestured to the orb, letting it play again.
"Come'on." Alex motioned towards the horde of mobs. "Let's go."
The quartet started running towards the mobs. As the mobs started to head towards them, they held their weapons forward, slicing straight through them while still running.
However, when they reached the middle, there was nothing there.
"Are you sure Herobrine's here, Astra?" Steve asked.
"I saw monsters spawning from here, so I assumed..." she trailed off.
"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but by coming here, we're kinda...surrounded?"
The image zoomed out to show them surrounded by a mass of mobs.
"Fly!" Erin shouted, opening her long, birdlike wings, and shooting into the sky. The others followed suit, soaring up next to her.
"Whew, I was not in the mood to–" Astra's comment was cut short by an arrow whizzing right past her ear. "Oops. Forgot about the skeletons."
"Yeah, we should probably–" Alex burned another arrow out of the air, "Get rid of those. Anyone got something that they can shoot? I didn't think would be doing ranged combat, so I left mine back at the base."
"Yeah, I have a bow and some arrows," Steve said, pulling one out. He tried to aim, but had to dodge as another arrow flew towards him. "I don't think shooting them will work."
"How about this?" Erin pulled out some TNT and a flint and steel.
Alex's face lit up, and she grabbed the TNT from her. Lighting her hands, she ignited the TNT, throwing it towards the monsters.
The mobs were blown to pieces. "Come'on, there's nothing here, let's go," Astra said, starting to turn.
"Wait!" Alex shouted. She pointed towards the giant hole in the ground. "What's that?"
All four of them looked towards the hole, expecting to see dirt or stone. But instead, they saw the black-purple color of obsidian.
"Obsidian?" Astra wondered. "I knew his base was somewhere around here!"
They dropped down, and started to mine the obsidian. It was layered, and they dug through about six layers when it opened up. They were about to dropped in, when they heard other people calling them.
"Steve?! Alex?!"
"Astra?!"
"Erin?!"
"I'm gonna go get some food," Griffin said suddenly, walking out of the room.
"I think I'll get something too for the rest of us," Kitsune said, following her out.
I thought it was strange, but focused back on the orb.
"Epona? Aquila? Onyx? We're over here!" Steve shouted, sending a trail of purple sparks into the air.
It wasn't until I saw their faces did I realize two of them looked familiar. Too familiar.
"Is that..." Petra trailed off.
"Kitsune and Griffin. When they were younger," Jess said.
Now it made sense why they would leave. But why wouldn't they have wanted to see this? And why did they change their names?
"What are you guys doing here?" Astra asked.
"Looking for you. Aquila and Onyx wanted to come as well, and they're literally impossible to stop once they've made up their mind," Epona said.
I noticed a small pegacorn amulet around her neck. So her spirit animal is a pegacorn, I thought to myself.
"That was dangerous," Steve said, "Coming by yourselves."
"We can handle ourselves," Aquila/Griffin said. "We're fine."
"You think this is the base?" Epona said, peering into the tunnel.
"Yeah, come'on," Steve said, heading down. The others followed.
They walked through the eerily silent tunnels, their footsteps echoing in the walls. When they reached the end, however, they were met with a wall of obsidian.
"There's nothing here," Onyx/Kitsune said. "What–"
The ground opened up underneath them, and they fell. The walls around them were too narrow, too tight to open their wings. They landed hard on the ground.
In a large chamber.
In front of Herobrine.
"Wow. Just wow. I knew you were idiots, but not stupid enough to fall for that," the white-eyed man mocked.
"Herobrine," Steve spat. "You've been causing trouble for way too long."
"Steve. Wonderful to see you again, nephew," Herobrine taunted.
"Nephew?!" we shouted in surprise. I turned back to ask Griffin or Kitsune, but they still hadn't come back yet. I made a mental note to ask them later.
"I'm ashamed to even call you uncle," Steve retorted.
"Well, I suppose you'll be dead soon, so you won't have to," Herobrine said. "I'll give you one chance. Surrender to me now and live, or face me and die."
"I would gladly die rather than surrender to you!" Alex shouted, beginning to lunge forward.
"Wait!" Erin shouted. She, Astra, and Epona nodded to each other, and then took off their amulets and gave them to Onyx and Aquila. In a flash, the shape of a griffin and a kitsune floated over their heads, and disappeared.
"Take these. If he ever comes back, we want you to defend this land," Astra told them. She then handed them the Command Block. "This was a prototype. We don't know how long it'll last, but hopefully a long time."
"Give my amulet to Celestia," Epona said. "I always meant for her to have it."
"But–but– you'll die without these!" Aquila said, trying to hand them back.
"No victory comes without sacrifice," Erin said. "Alex and Steve– they can't defeat him on their own, with or without spirit animal. We might not be able to kill him, but we can hold him back for a few years. But when he comes back, hopefully his descendants will be there to stop him."
"Protect this world," Astra said. "And be prepared." She pushed them away. "Now go."
"Good-bye," Onyx said, blinking tears out of her eyes.
"This is heart-wrenching and all, but I'm bored. I think I'll just kill you all now," Herobrine said.
He stood up, two long, jagged swords appearing in his hand.
Onyx grabbed Aquila's hand, and they disappeared into the folds of a shadow.
"One last battle," Alex smiled faintly, despite the circumstances. "The last battle."
"Do you have it?" Epona asked.
Steve pulled out something. The Command Block, or a different version of it. Instead of the orangey-tan, it was a sea green color. "We have to weaken him first, then we can trap him."
All of them readied their weapons and charged.
Alright. One more chapter of the past. I got a really good inspiration, so I already have planned ahead for this story (assuming I don't lose interest or anything, which is unlikely right now). Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
~Griffinᾦ