Quest for the Emblems

Chapter 21

Sapnap always noticed when something was up with George and Dream. So when he saw those two together last night, and George's swollen lips, he kind of guessed what had happened, but he wanted to hear it from them.

"Nothing happened," George reasoned out.

The three of them were currently standing in an open field near the village. Sapnap thought that it would be the perfect place to corner them.

"Oh nothing happened you say..." Sapnap repeated as he walked over to George, and pulled his cape back a bit to reveal a hickey on the base of George's neck.

"Well?" Sapnap said with a raised eyebrow.

George's eyes darted from Dream to Sapnap, before letting out a groan and sinking to the ground. "You just had to leave a mark huh?" George angrily snapped at Dream.

"I didn't mean to," Dream reasoned back.

Sapnap started laughing, "I knew that this was going to happen."

The pair turned away embarrassed, Sapnap walked up to them and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, "You know that there's no need to be shy, the whole crew knew that you guys were going to get together eventually. In fact, we actually placed bets."

"You guys did what!?" Dream and George yelled at the same time.

Just then Tommy started calling for Dream, so Sapnap and George told him to go ahead and they would catch up later.

"Does he know?" Sapnap asked when they were alone.

"No," George quickly answered.

"You have to tell him George."

"I don't need to. We'll be going our separate ways when this quest is over." George replied firmly.

Sapnap gave him a concerned look.

"I love him Sap, but I can't bring him into this. My secret is known only to you, my mum, and the elders of the tribe. You weren't suppose to find out so soon in the first place." George said.

When they heard Wilbur calling for them, their conversation stopped and they both headed back to the village. After loading all the supplies the village gave them, Tommy and Tubbo said their goodbyes and then they left for the Nether.

George decided to walk a bit of the way, since riding in the wagon was getting tiring. He smiled when Dream joined him at his side, and held his hand. When they turned their attention back to the group they noticed that Sapnap was smirking, while the others stared at them with horrified expressions.

"Okay, pay up!" Sapnap yelled and stretched out his palms to the other party members.

A chorus of groans and curses sounded as they all headed over to him, then dropped a small bag of gold each, even Tommy and Tubbo.

"Wait, I thought you were joking. You guys actually made bets on whether or not we would get together." George asked embarrassed.

"Actually we knew that you guys were going to get together, the bet was when..." Sapnap corrected, "I was the only one who placed money on you guys getting together before the 3rd emblem."

"When did this even happen?" Dream asked.

"Back on the ship in Ragnor, when you went to give George the bread." Wilbur explained. "Fundy made his bet after we got the first emblem," he added.

George buried his face in his hands, "This is the most embarrassing day of my life!" He exclaimed earning him a laugh from the rest of the party.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~

"This heat is unbearable!" Skeppy complained. They had finally reached Jasmire, but were quickly losing their energy in the burning heat.

"Aren't you suppose to be used to it?" Tubbo asked as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"There is a reason why I stay in the palace almost everyday," Skeppy replied.

"Are we getting close to the Nether yet?" Wilbur asked.

"Just a bit more!" Bad yelled as he led the group up a sand dune.

Once the party reached the top, they all gasped. There were lakes of lava as far as the eye could see. It looked plain at first, but they soon realized that there were some weird looking trees and other plants growing around.

"We need to constantly be on our guard here," Skeppy informed. "In the Nether almost everything is out to kill you."

No sooner did those words leave his mouth that a fire ball came hurling towards them. Everyone ducked behind the dunes when they realized that there was a ghast flying nearby.

"I hate those guys," Skeppy groaned.

Without a second thought, Karl placed an arrow in his bow and shot it down. "Looks like I can finally be of some use," he said smiling, while everyone looked at him in awe.

"That's my man!" Sapnap yelled making Karl blush.

"What!" Everyone except Dream and George exclaimed.

Sapnap suddenly realized what he said and cleared his throat, "never mind that, we should get going." He said as he charged straight into the Nether, with a blushing Karl right behind him. The party had a good laugh before following them in.

~•~•~•~•~•~

"We've been walking for hours, where on earth is this monster?" Eret asked.

"Lady Myra said it is the embodiment of death itself. To be honest, I don't know how I feel about encountering such a monster." Sapnap declared.

"We don't really have a choice now do we?" Karl said.

George suddenly stopped in his tracks. Dream turned to see George's face pale with fear.

"George? What's wrong?" Dream asked, the rest of the party noticed and also stopped.

"George?" Sapnap called, as he place a hand on his friend's back.

George suddenly ran forward and tackled Tommy and Tubbo to the ground,

"George what are you d-"

"Get down!" George yelled.

A large explosion suddenly occurred at the center of the group, and everyone went flying in different directions. When they managed to get back up, they found that whatever it was, exploded right in the spot where Tommy and Tubbo were previously standing in.

"Was that another ghast?" Karl asked as he loaded his bow.

"No," George replied grimly, as he turned his attention towards a lava lake nearby.

The rest of the party followed his gaze, and their eyes settled on a monster that was floating just above the lava. The creature had three heads and a small body, and just like Myra said, it look like death itself.

"It's a wither", George declared.