The next day got really crazy, really fast. It didn't start too bad...but I guess that should've been my warning, the calm before the storm.
Jaq was the last one up, and while the rest of us were waiting for her to wake up, we sat in the main room and speculated what might be ahead of us that day.
"He said something about a maze, didn't he?" Jenni asked. She was running her hands through her long brown hair, braiding the red streak in the front. She didn't even seem to notice she was doing it, kind of like a nervous tic.
"Yeah. There's lots of different kinds of mazes though...and I doubt it'll be something simple." Jandro replied.
"I think I'd rather take a maze over, like...a hydra or something." Joss added, and Justin shuddered. "No kidding."
I remembered Ivor's maze in the Farlands that I had to go through. "I dunno. Mazes aren't really my thing."
"Me neither." Jandro agreed. Jenni got an oddly excited look in her eyes. "You kidding? I love mazes. So many different paths, and I love the mystery of it, and they somehow feel peaceful and exciting at the same time..."
"Yeah, something tells me this isn't gonna be like that." Jandro said drily.
"Maybe because we're in an impossible prison beyond the Farlands?" Joss added. The words should've been sarcastic, but he just sounded bored. No one seemed to know what to say after that, though Justin was physically biting his lip, I assume to avoid spouting out a snappish comeback.
"What are you...what are you all waiting around for? Don't we have trials to go through?" Jaq asked through a yawn, finally making her sleepy way into the room. Her short, already-choppy hair was sticking up all over the place, and her blue hair clip had almost fallen out. She started to adjust it, halfheartedly scowling at the rest of us.
"We were waiting for you. None of us were brave enough to go in and wake you up." Justin said with a grin. Jaq turned her scowl on him, but didn't say anything else.
"I kinda feel like Entity 303 is gonna be waiting right outside." Jenni admitted, looking at the door. Jandro shuddered. "Oh, don't say that, please. I'm still a little too freaked out over the fact that he's real."
"Same here. It kinda...well it kinda makes you feel a lot less safe, right? Like if he's still alive, anything could be out there." Justin said softly. There was an uncomfortable silence as this sunk in.
Then Jaq tossed her head. "It doesn't matter. I'm just focused on getting through this maze, and whatever comes after."
Jenni gave her a shocked look. "You don't really care about this crazy soul thing, do you?"
"No. But I do care about making it through this, and getting home alive. I don't care what's out there, or what might happen, because no matter what it is, I'm gonna survive." She said staunchly, walking over and putting her hand on the door. "And as weird as it feels to say this, I don't think we should keep 303 waiting."
Sure enough, Entity 303 was standing at the top of his obsidian tower again, right where we had found him the day before. We scaled the stairs with Jaq in the lead, apprehension building in my chest with every step. He turned to face us right as we reached the top, that intangible wind blowing his robe around his legs.
"Ah. My Shards. I hope you are ready for what's to come." He told us, red eyes glinting deviously.
"We're not 'your' anything." Jaq snapped. "And it's not like we have much choice."
He smiled crookedly, revealing a row of very sharp teeth. "You always have choices, Jaqueline. It's just a matter of seeing them and choosing in time."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I burst out. In my time, I had been forced to tolerate many condescending, untrustable characters, and at the moment I didn't feel like dealing with one more.
The red gaze was turned to me. "It means...good luck."
Then he waved his hand, and everything went white.
The next thing I knew, I was standing on a completely flat plain, in between Joss and Justin. It wasn't like an ordinary Plains biome though- there was nothing, no trees, no animals, no grass. It was eerily silent.
For about two seconds, that is.
Something burst out of the ground right in front of us, making Jenni scream and the rest of us jump back. It grew higher and higher, and I finally got my wits back enough to tell that it was nothing more than a stone wall.
A massive stone wall, four times taller than the maze in the Farlands. There was utter silence for a moment, and then another wall came bursting through the ground. Then another, and another, and another. The maze was forming in front of our very eyes, the barriers erupting upwards faster and faster. This went on for about a minute, before everything went still.
Where there had just been empty space, now stood the largest maze you could ever imagine. The entrance was at least ten blocks wide, with an arch over the top. We had been so preoccupied with watching the walls go up that we hadn't even noticed the ground, which was now a mix of the different variants of stone bricks.
All six of us stood still, staring at the daunting maze. We knew we had to go in, but none of us were too eager, especially after that obvious display of 303's power.
It was Joss that finally stepped forward. "Come on. This maze isn't going to solve itself." The rest of us hesitantly followed him, and I craned my neck up to look at the words carved into the arch over the top.
"'Maze of Monsters', huh? Looks like we'll have to fight our way through." Justin guessed. I felt a shiver run through me. Something wasn't right here.
"I...don't know. I think there'll be more than just mobs in there, Justin." Jandro said slowly.
"What makes you think that?" Jenni asked quietly. Jandro shrugged. "Well, think about it. We're beyond the Far Lands, brought here by Entity 303. We've already established that he's probably not alone here, so who's to say those other creatures won't be waiting for us in this maze?"
I shivered again. There. That's what had seemed off. 303 wasn't alone here, and he didn't seem interested in making this easy. What other fiends of legend awaited us in this impossible dimension?
Joss hadn't paused like the rest of us, and was already several steps inside the maze. We quickly hurried to catch up, and I refrained myself from gawking at the sheer hugeness of this place.
"Raise your hand if you feel really really small right now." Justin said. Jenni, Jandro, and I all raised our hands, as well as Justin himself.
"We should probably have our swords out." Jaq decided. She reached into her inventory and pulled out her Aristan sword, a purple blade that shone red, blue, pink, and silver when she moved it.
The rest of us did the same, and I glanced around at the other Shards' weapons. Jenni's sword was blue- like lapis, but even darker, Justin's was a shiny emerald green that clashed spectacularly with his blue armor, Joss's was a pale icy blue, Jandro's was a beautiful rosy gold, and my own, of course, was crimson red. I briefly wondered what colour the last one was, the one that 303 must have.
"So how are we gonna do this? Should we split up, or stay together?" Jandro asked.
"I think we should split. We'll cover more ground that way." Joss suggested.
Jenni shook her head quickly. "No, no, absolutely not. Monsters, remember? That's a good way to get picked off one-by-one and killed horribly. And we're all in this together, right? No on the splitting up."
"But staying together means we'll have to all agree on things as a group. I mean, I'm in no way saying that we should separate, I'm just also pointing out that so far, there's been more disagreeing than getting along." Jandro pointed out. He purposely made eye contact with Jaq, who scoffed and looked away.
"I heard that you can get through a maze quickly by always turning left." Justin offered.
"Me too. It's pretty common knowledge." I added. "Which means...Entity 303 is most likely aware of that and has probably anticipated us taking that route."
"Still...worth a shot."
We continued forward, taking several left forks in a row. We seemed to be heading somewhat towards the center, and Justin looked absurdly proud of himself...until we hit a dead end.
"Oh for-" Justin started to say, but Joss cut him off. "What's- is that a pressure plate?"
I followed where he was pointing, and noticed, sure enough, a wooden pressure plate, sitting right in plain sight.
"Everyone back up." Jenni ordered, drawing her enchanted bow. We all took several steps back, and she fired an arrow at the pressure plate. A click, a brief hiss...and then a colossal explosion went off, large enough to punch a hole in the stone wall and to send us yelping farther away.
Justin's eyes were wide. "Oh...that's nice. Careful where you step, I guess."
Now that the immediate danger was over, Jaq trotted back to the crater that the explosion had left behind. "What the hell was that?! That blast was way too big to just be TNT." She pointed out.
"Super TNT, maybe?" I suggested, also surveying the considerable damage and feeling very thankful we had had the insight to stand back.
She gave me a nervous look. "Yikes. We're really gonna have to watch our footing after that."
"No kidding. I wonder what other nice little surprises are in here." Jenni wondered sarcastically.
We continued on, marking where we had been with torches. It was impossible to tell if we were going the right way- the compass that Jaq had brought did nothing but spin aimlessly as though in the Nether. There were a few mobs in the maze, but they were few and far between, and not really a threat to the six of us.
For the most part, we remained silent, only speaking when we had a suggestion on which way to go- but after the seventh dead end and the fourth time figuring out we were going in a circle, we were all getting fed up. It seemed like we could end up lost in this maze for days if we didn't figure out a strategy soon.
"Does anyone else...have the feeling we're being watched?" Jenni asked softly. I jumped, having gotten used to the not-talking thing.
"Kind of. I hate how quiet this place is; I feel like something could jump out at us any second." I replied.
"Yeah, and who knows what the things that jump out could be." Jandro added.
Justin shivered. "Can we stop bringing that up?? We get it, there's scary stuff out here!"
"Yeah, but-"
"Guys! Monster alert!" Joss snapped. We all turned around, just in time to notice the pair of zombies stumbling up to us. It was still late morning, but I guess mobs don't burn in the Farlands. Just add that to the list of reasons I hate that place.
Jaq leaped forward, plunging her Aristan sword through the first zombie and reducing it to dust. Before any of us could get to the second one, however, there was a soft whoosh sound and it disappeared without a trace.
"Wha..." Jenni murmured, staring at the spot where the monster had been. A tall, brown-skinned man turned the corner into the alley we were in. He wore dark blue pants and a long black hooded cloak that covered his face and most of his body. I raised my red sword, instantly ready to fight if needed.
"Sorry if I startled you. I swear I mean you no harm, I just wish to talk."
He reached up and pulled down his hood, revealing a mop of messy dark brown hair, a small beard...and white eyes.
I physically stumbled back, praying to Notch that I wasn't seeing what I thought I was seeing.
No...this isn't possible, I thought, even though I already knew it was.
Herobrine.
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Yesssss, I just did that
I mean come on
You had to've seen that coming rite