(ON HOLD/BEING REWRITTEN) De Salute Mea- Safety From The Darkness

Chapter 5

"Alex, stop flinching! I need you to hold still." Steve said for the third time. "It's not fun if this stuff gets in your eye, trust me."

"Says the one who isn't dealing with the sting!" Alex grumbled back.

"It'll hurt a lot worse if it gets in your eye!" Steve retorted, looking at her. "Fine." She sighed and rubbed her left eye wearily. Instead of going back to cleaning the gash, Steve continued to gaze at her. There was something about her, her emerald eyes, her face, her flowing red hair that aroused something in Steve. Something he didn't recognize. 

Alex yawned and stretched, waking Steve from his thoughts. "Alex?" He asked as he reached for the bandages and began unwrapping them. "What?" Steve paused before answering with his question. "What happened to you?" 

Her face went pale and she looked down. "Alex. I found you alone in the woods like this. Blood all over your clothes, and you unconscious." "Steve-" "I know, you said it's dangerous, but I need to know what happened. And then when you..." He trailed off, wondering if he should say or not. "When I what?" She asked. Steve took a deep breath. "N-nothing. Just... I didn't think I'd see you again, let alone like that." "Steve. I can't. Tell you." Alex said with such seriousness it worried Steve even more. But he decided to drop it for the time being anyway.

"Alright, fine." 

She exhaled with relief. "Thank you."

Steve nodded and glanced at the clock hanging on his wall, and saw it was only about 1:30 in the afternoon. He stood up from the couch. "You should rest." After some bantering back and forth between the two, they came to an agreement. Alex would lay down and rest while Steve went to The Nether and got what he needed to brew a Healing Potion and she would be on her way. Steve felt great discomfort in leaving Alex by herself, even if she was in his own house, and also in her leaving altogether. But he geared up anyhow and leaving Alex to her own care, stepped through the portal in his portal building (Which was a small building outside his house, where he had chests full of things he brought to and fro The Nether, and of course the Portal) and onto his walkway he built to get to places easier. 

Cling, clang, cling, clang!

Went his iron boots across the quartz walkway, as his body adjusted to the almost unbearable heat of the realm. "I'll never get used to that portal disorientation," He thought to himself, shifting his chestplate and helmet as he walked.

Suddenly a Wither skeleton charged at him from the left, making Steve nearly jump out of his skin. Luckily he had his sword in his hand and it only took two swift blows to destroy it, but it left Steve startled and anxious. He wasn't one who was nervous in The Nether, but the past occurrences of the day left him worried and on edge the whole way to the Fortress.

Once he arrived, he was greeted by some Blazes and two more Wither skeletons. He dodged the fireballs the Blazes threw at him and engaged in combat with one of the skeletons, again killing it with two hits. After doing likewise with the second, he pulled out his bow and fitted an arrow into it and took his aim. He shot the first Blaze, then the second, them the third. More skeletons appeared behind him and he threw up his shield to block the fourth Blazes fireballs while battling two skeletons at once. "Where the hell are all of you coming from?" He growled. Distracted with the Wither skeletons the fourth and now a fifth Blaze as well took their aim. Steve felt the heat of the fireballs hitting the back of his armor clad ankles. He threw back the skeleton he was battling and let an arrow fly from his bow hitting one Blaze, then another hitting the other. He spun to meet the other skeletons charging towards him but wasn't in time to block all three hits they gave. He killed two but the last left him a large gash on his arm.

He instantaneously felt the effects of the Wither Sickness grow over him. He gathered his strength and killed the skeleton in one last blow before the energy was completely drained from him, which resulted in him collapsing to the floor and, as luck would have it, his head striking the fence on the way down causing everything to go black.

"-should we do?" Steve partly awoke to his ears ringing and his shoulders being shaken by someone. He also heard voices and saw a face out of focus. "Shut up -ley! Look at-" Steve could only hear some of what was being said. "What? You don't- should- Charlie?" He heard the voices burst into laughter, and that was all before he blacked out again.

He opened his eyes once more to his being propped up and carried down his walkway by two figures. His ears were still ringing and he couldn't understand what they were saying to one another. 

Presently he came to laying by his portal on the ground. He lay there, eyes closed, listening to the ringing that was slowly faded away. Once it was gone, he  only then noticed the terrible pain in his leg. And his arm. And his head. He was sweating all over, and he felt like he had been soaking in lava he felt so warm. He sat up, which made him dizzy, and saw in the far distance, two figures walking away. He tried to shout at them but only a weak groan came out. He watched them walk further and further away until they were out of sight. He leaned against the cold obsidian of his portal and sighed. He glanced at his arm, which was swelled up with black ooze dripping out of it. A typical Wither Sickness wound. He had medications for it at home. But his leg, his leg was in horrible pain, with blood staining his jeans red. He tried to move it and was able to, but sharp pain shot through him when he did. 

He waited a few minutes until the lightheadedness faded away as well, before he attempted to stand. His other leg was fine, and he used it to hop over and sit down in the portal. When he got to the other side, he rolled off and lay still for a moment. The trip had made his leg and arm hurt even worse and his head got so dizzy he couldn't see straight. (Not that you can already when you're traveling through a Nether portal.) He waited for the pain to subside before he stood again and hobbled outside. Blowing through his soaked hair, the wind felt cool against his hot skin. He leaned against the door frame and looked through the darkness at his house. Yes, the darkness. Time runs differently in The Nether, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, so he had no way of knowing how long he had been unconscious. He hopped across the yard, pain shooting through his leg with every hop, and once he made it inside, he collapsed onto his couch and looked at the clock. It was almost 8:20 in the evening. Only then did Steve remember he was supposed to get Nether Wart for Alex. "Shit," He muttered to himself. 

Alex! Where was she? Steve took a deep breath and called for Alex. He didn't hear anything, so he tried again. He heard a faint reply from his bathroom and he sighed with relief. "Steve!" Alex stepped from the bathroom, her eyes still on the mirror. "The bandages were coming loose, so I was just-" She pulled her eyes away from the mirror to him and stared. 

Steve smiled in spite of himself. She was... beau- "Steve, what the fuck happened?!" She ran over and grabbed his arm, looking at it with a horrified and disgusted expression on her face. Steve laughed at it. "With-Wither skeletons-" He chuckled. "What happened to your leg?" She dropped his arm and kneeled down to look at his leg, which sent pain through it and he winced. "Uh, I don't-" "Did you get The Nether wart?" She looked up at him, waiting for an answer, her eyes questioning. Steve began to stare into them again, you really could get lost in them, like a forest of endless, green beauty-" 

"Steve!" 

"What?"