Heh sorry this ended up being 7 pages long in docs XD
"You said Eerste has one of the shards?" Crest asked me.
I nodded. We were in a cave, taking shelter from a storm. Petra and Axel made a fire before starting to argue about something, while Olivia started heating up some leftover food, and Jesse was cowering in the back of the cave at the sound of thunder with Ivor yelling at him about it. Just another normal journey with the New Order of the Stone (plus Crest).
"So... I guess we'll have to fight that dude to get that last shard." Crest stretched out against the wall. I breathed. I knew Eerste was going to be a hard fight, especially if the only people who had any experience with him either couldn't fight or was injured.
"You still feel guilty, don't you? About Jack nearly dying?" Crest asked casually.
That made me jump. I didn't remember me or anyone else telling him that Jesse and I fell off a cliff and nearly died in the process!
"Umm... Yeah." I bit my lip. "How did you find that out?"
"I have my ways." Crest sounded as if that was a normal thing. I inched away from him.
I took out the relic and inspected it. It was long, longer than my arm span, which made me think it would be a bow. Or a staff. I'd like a bow better. It was glowing faintly. I could hear a boom of thunder from outside, and the rain became heavier. We were going to be stuck in here for a while.
"The meat's finished." Olivia announced. I looked up to nearly get hit in the face by a cooked fish.
"Seriously?" I turned to Petra with a glare, since I knew she would be the only person (besides Axel) to do that.
"You need to keep your guard up." she shrugged.
"We should think of a plan after we're done eating." Axel stated in between mouthfuls of meat. Probably one of the first things useful he said all day.
"Yeah." Olivia agreed. "We want all those shards right?" She picked a fish off of the stake (yes, we do use stakes sometimes to cook) and took a bite. I moved over to the fire and took a piece of rabbit that Axel was about to grab. I sat back down where Jesse and Ivor were and forced myself to eat the food. I wasn't very hungry, but I would worry my friends if I didn't eat.
"I say we attack Eerste and get those shards." Petra spoke up after a while of silence.
Jesse shot up immediately. "You're going up against a god."
"You went up against two." Petra shot back. She looked annoyed.
"With some help!" Jesse growled. "And I was a lot more capable at that time! And even then I nearly died."
Olivia took Petra's side. "I'll have to agree with Petra, Jesse. We all want Lukas back to normal, right? We'll have to fight him sooner or later."
"We can kill him and get it over with." Axel agreed.
Jesse didn't look too happy to see half of his friends are opposing him. "You're putting a sword to Notch's neck."
"He's weaker now, right?" Olivia questioned.
"Still!" Jesse said.
"I do not think it would be best to go after Eerste at this time," Ivor spoke up, siding with Jesse. "We just suffered the loss of an Order member- it wouldn't be wise to fight right now."
"Thank you." Jesse growled.
"I agree with Ivor," I said.
"You're not going to come." Petra told me. "Jesse isn't either."
"Who put you in charge!?" Jesse said.
"You're not the only one who can give orders." Petra retorted. "Just because you like to boss everybody around doesn't mean-"
"Guys, stop." I stood up, getting in between Petra and Jesse. They were like siblings- getting along one moment and fighting the next.
"Lukas-" Petra started, but I cut her off.
"Okay. How about you try to go after Eerste," I said. "And I'll stay here with Ivor, Crest and Jesse."
"They're going to die!" Jesse raised his voice.
"They won't." I told him. I put a hand on his shoulder. "They can handle themselves."
"How are they even going to find him!?" Jesse's eyes were still blazing.
I ignored Jesse's death glare. I looked at Petra. Her expression was unreadable.
"He's in a desert biome about twenty chunks south of here." Crest said. Everybody turned to look at him.
"Okay." Petra said after a moment of silence. "Come on, guys."
She finally backed off, picked up a few things, and Axel and Olivia got up as well.
"We'll be back before you know it." Axel said, before following Olivia and Petra out of the cave into the rain.
I sat down, letting out a sigh. I looked over to the others. Crest was talking to Ivor about something, and Jesse was staring off into space, his eyes still burning. I really did hope Petra, Axel and Olivia didn't get killed. I don't think I would be able to take it if any more people died.
We sat there for what felt like forever. I shifted my position a little, and pulled out my journal. It was a different one from when we were portal hopping. I only had a few pages filled in it. I started it when we got out of the True End, and I didn't think to fill it out after I started... turning. I had filled in the missing parts of the journey so far a few days prior, and I started to write what just happened today.
A thunderstorm caught us off guard as we were traveling through a birch forest biome. We took shelter in a cave. Petra had the idea of fighting Eerste immediately, and Jesse opposed her. Olivia and Axel took Petra's side, while Ivor took Jesse's. I split the two apart and told Petra that she go after Eerste and I would stay with Jesse, Ivor and Crest. Crest somehow knew exactly where Eerste is- if he wasn't lying. I don't really know much about him. But so far I can tell he can read minds, since I heard him talk to Jesse in the True End. Maybe it's possible that he can sense things from far away. It's impossible right now to tell.
When I looked back up, Crest was looking at me, and I quickly glanced away. I knew he was half-enderman and all, but not even Jesse acted that weird. I took a breath. I looked at Jesse, and I could tell he was still tense.
"So..." I tried to think of something to talk about to maybe lighten the mood. "What's up with everybody?"
"I'm thinking," Ivor replied. "How long it would actually take to find the shards- and if we find them in time."
I felt my muscles tense.
"We will make it in time." Jesse snapped.
Ivor ignored him and asked me, "How many times have you turned?"
I took a minute to count. "I think... about seven."
"How long has it been since the last time you turned?"
"Last night."
Ivor paused for a minute. "Do you still have that book?"
"No." I sighed. "I left it back in the temple."
"Well... that is... inconvenient." Ivor sighed. "I estimate that you would most likely turn three, maybe four more times before you lose your mind."
I didn't exactly like Ivor's choice of words. I took in a shaky breath and sank back against the wall. I knew that part of being a hero was being selfless and putting others before you, but I was actually scared for my life.
"And if Petra, Axel and Olivia do kill Eerste, we will be closer to preventing that." ivor finished.
If. I still didn't like the idea of three of my friends going up against a literal god, even if he was weaker now.
"We'll just have to wait." Crest said.
A few minutes turned into thirty. Still, Petra, Olivia and Axel weren't back yet. Crest was tensing up for some reason beyond my understanding, and Jesse lightened up a little and tried to start a conversation with me. It eventually turned into embarrassing stories. Apparently one time Jesse got his foot stuck in between a couple of tree routes and some civilians had to help him. I reluctantly told him about the time I was snooping around Ivor's lab and got mundane potion in my eyes. And apparently I also never told Ivor about it.
Suddenly, Crest yelled out, "Axel's down!"
"What!?" I said.
Crest got up, his eye wide with panic. "Dude, he's down! My dad clawed him! We need to get over there!"
Jesse was up in a second. I jumped to my feet, and Ivor got up as well.
"Where are they!?" Jesse asked urgently.
Crest started towards the cave mouth. "Follow me!"
Soon enough, we were running out of the cave with weapons in hand (well two of us had weapons at least), following Crest as he swerved past trees, never slowing for a second. Rain poured down on us. I heard the boom of thunder above us. I could feel adrenaline surge through me. Another person was going to die because of me. Axel was going to die. I felt out of breath, but I forced myself to keep moving. We needed to get to that desert biome.
Not one second too soon I could see a sea of sand just past the birch trees. I felt the slightest bit relieved, but nobody slowed down yet. We broke out of the forest biome and were now running on sand. Rain no longer pelted my back, but I was overwhelmed with the heat. Still I kept running. Crest was almost a full chunk ahead of me. He scaled a hill easily and stopped at the top of it.
He turned around. "They're right here!"
I made my way up the hill and slowed to a stop beside Crest. The three really were there. Axel was on the ground, and Petra and Olivia were crowded around him. Eerste was nowhere in sight. I stiffened up.
"Oh Notch, please no." I heard Jesse mutter. He ran down the hill towards the others. I followed behind him.
"What happened!?" I asked Olivia as soon as I got to them.
"H-he was clawed across the chest." She muttered. Her voice was shaky.
"Move it, idiots!" Ivor growled, pushing the others out of the way so that he was the only one standing over Axel.
Ivor quickly pulled out a potion and forced it down Axel's throat. He swallowed it, but it didn't seem to do anything. Ivor gave him another. We waited for a moment. Still, nothing happened. Axel's breathing was getting weaker. It reminded me of the dreadful moment when I saw Jesse close to death when we fell off that cliff. Seeing him lay lifeless, blood pooling around him. Just like this moment. I didn't want Axel to die. Suddenly, I remembered something.
"He's going to die." Petra's voice cracked with grief.
"There's nothing I can do now." Ivor sighed.
I moved closer to Axel. I put my hands on the gash where Eerste had obviously clawed him.
"What are you doing?" Olivia questioned me in between quiet sobs.
"Wait." I muttered.
I hoped to Notch this would work. We didn't need more people dead. I hoped that this could save another person's life. I tried to focus.
To my relief, I felt the tingling in my hands. I opened my eyes to see my hands emitting a faint blue light. Still, I kept focusing.
"What the nether...?" I heard Petra question.
Still, I focused completely on healing. I didn't really know why, but I felt like I already knew how to do this. I guess that's a good thing.
"The wound is... healing?" Even Crest was confused.
The bleeding slowed to a stop. Axe'ls breathing got stronger and more regular. Soon enough, the gash closed up and was reduced to a scar, only leaving his shirt ripped. I backed off. I suddenly felt exhausted- I fell onto the ground. I felt like I could sleep for years now.
"How... did you do that?" Petra turned to me, her eyes wide.
"I don't know exactly..." I breathed. "It only happened once before."
"When?" Axel asked. Everyone turned to him. He was sitting up now, looking like he just woke up from a nap.
"I'm so glad you're okay." Olivia gave Axel a hug, and so did Jesse.
"It... was when Jesse and I fell down that mountain. He was dying when I woke up. I don't really know how, but I healed him." I explained.
Everyone turned to Jesse. He shifted his weight uncomfortably.
"So you can heal?" Crest asked.
"I guess." I answered.
"That will come in handy in the future," Ivor said.
"Another perk of being part monster, I guess." I said.
"That reminds me." Olivia said.
She pulled out two glowing shards. Part of the relic. I let out a gasp.
"Eerste dropped these." She said, handing them to me.
I pulled the relic out of my inventory. The two shards connected immediately, making the relic start to curve at the edges. I struggled to my feet, holding the relic out to see where the next shards would be. It didn't shine in any direction except for one- towards the setting sun. There it shone very brightly.
"I have a feeling there's only a few shards left." Petra said.
"Yeah." I replied. "We might as well get moving now."
"Right." Jesse said.
And we started off again towards the sunset.