Minecraft Story Mode Season 3, Episode 3: Every Rose Has Its Thorns

Part 19: A Strict Non-Disclosure Agreement

Romeo woke up in a moderate sized holding cell. He let out a groan of frustration and pounded his fist against the cell's glass wall. He'd gotten careless and let his guard down, assuming that his opponent dropping her sword meant that she'd given up the fight.

Romeo felt a sharp pain on the side of his head and winced. He touched his hand to the injured spot, which was tender and slightly swollen.

Romeo knew that he wasn't in good enough condition to teleport, so he would have to think of another way to escape. He examined his surroundings.

The bottom of the cell was coated in faintly glowing dark bronze liquid, but the rest of the cell- the only cell in the room- was completely empty. The room outside the cell was considerably more decorated. Slightly to the left of the cell was a bookshelf that was full of weathered tomes.

There was a worn spruce wood chair pushed into an old spruce desk with many stained notes scattered across it. Romeo squinted in an attempt to read the words on the notes, but he was unable to get a good enough look at them from his position.

The gray carpeting on the floor was clearly new and bright redstone lamps were embedded in the ceiling.

Romeo punched the cell wall as hard as he could, but the glass didn't crack or show any signs of damage.

Veeva entered the room with a notebook in her hand.

"Punching the glass won't help you. You're standing in a lingering potion of mining fatigue," Veeva stated.

"Where's the unconscious girl you were carrying earlier?" Romeo questioned. Veeva slipped the notebook into her inventory.

"Christine? She's fine. For now, at least. I can't tell you more than that since this job has a really strict non-disclosure agreement," Veeva replied.

"You know, I'm actually flattered that you decided to put me in solitary confinement. Makes me feel special," Romeo quipped. Veeva raised an eyebrow.

"First you interrogate me, then you joke about your situation. You're definitely not acting like a prisoner," Veeva pointed out. Romeo laughed and a smug grin spread across his face.

"Oh, please. Do you really think you can hold me? This pathetic little excuse for a cell won't be able to withstand my power for even a second," Romeo said. Veeva pressed her lips together.

"You're bluffing," Veeva concluded. Romeo smirked at her.

"Am I?" Romeo countered.

"I calculated that your head injury would weaken you enough to disable your teleportation, which would prevent your escape. However, you will feel well enough to escape eventually. I have to take measures to prevent that in the future, which I hadn't taken into account. I'm sorry, but I'll have to fetch a shock wristband to ensure that you're never in good enough condition to teleport. Don't worry... I won't put you in any more pain than what's necessary," Veeva explained. She quickly exited the room and Romeo let out a sigh of relief. He had no idea how he'd escape, but at least he'd bought himself time by faking confidence.

Romeo looked through his inventory, hoping that he'd find something he could use to his advantage. All he had was a diamond sword, some cookies, and the book he'd gotten from Nurm. The diamond sword would be useful for defending himself after he broke out, but was otherwise completely useless.

Romeo decided to do another quick scan of his surroundings and his eyes landed on the bookshelf. Maybe if he mustered up some telekinesis, he could pull the bookshelf towards the cell and the glass would break from the impact.

Romeo held his hand out to the bookshelf and knitted his eyebrows together in concentration. The bookshelf rapidly shook in place, starting to register the pull.

Romeo's arm felt heavy and sore from the effort, but he knew he had to press on to have any chance of escape.

Without warning, the bookshelf hurtled towards the cell at an impressive speed and slammed into the glass. The glass shattered and some shards lodged themselves into Romeo's skin.

Romeo laid on the ground for a moment, grimacing from the pain, and then forced himself to stand up. He stumbled out of the cell, clutching his stomach.

"Really should've given that plan more thought. Of course glass shards would hurt, they're sharp and I'm ridiculously fragile now," Romeo muttered. He limped out of the room and noticed a door that led out of the building. Once he exited the building, he collapsed from exhaustion and pain. He heard the rushing of a nearby river and wondered if some cold water could dull his aching muscles.

Romeo tried to stand up, but his support arm gave out and he ended up falling back to the ground.

"Oh yikes. What happened to you?" a familiar voice questioned. Romeo looked up and saw Lizzie, whose expression was a mix of concern and confusion.

Lizzie had light brown eyebrows and blue eyes, and her long pink hair was half down and half up in space buns. She wore dusty red lipstick, black flats, a long sleeved dark blue shirt- white with a single blue stripe was at the end of the sleeves, a dark blue skirt, and a white sailor tie with skinny light blue stripe accents.

"...Lizzie? What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" Romeo said.

"I was looking for a good cave. I definitely didn't expect to find..." Lizzie gestured to Romeo's battered body. "...this."

"Do you... have any... healing potions?" Romeo asked weakly.

"Yeah, but I should probably get the glass out of you first. There's only about five pieces, so it shouldn't take too long. Quick warning: I'm not a doctor. Unfortunately you're stuck with me because there aren't any better options right now," Lizzie replied. She pulled the first piece of glass out of Romeo's skin and he suppressed a scream of pain. "Sorry," Lizzie apologized. She quickly yanked the remaining shards out of Romeo's skin as he tried to keep his agonized vocalizations as quiet as possible.

"That was bloody awful," Romeo groaned. Lizzie raised an eyebrow.

"What part of 'I'm not a doctor' did you not understand? You should've lowered your expectations," Lizzie responded. She took a healing potion out of her inventory and gave it to Romeo, who immediately drank it.

"Thank you for your help. Your timing was impeccable," Romeo told her.

"No problem. I guess I was just in the right place at the right time," Lizzie answered. Romeo managed to push himself off the ground and stand up.

"That's all it was? You didn't get a letter tipping you off to my location or something of that sort?" Romeo asked.

"Are you sure you want to know? It's way weirder than that and you'll probably think I'm crazy. To be honest, I'm a little worried that I might be crazy," Lizzie admitted.

"Are you forgetting who you're talking to? I once took the form of a snowman to seem less intimidating. Nothing will sound crazy compared to that," Romeo joked. Lizzie stifled a laugh and shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay, if you say so. I was going on a walk around Beacontown, and everything was normal until I got to the river. I heard voices telling me I had to hurry and follow the flow of the river because someone needed my help. The weirdest part was that the voices called me 'Ocean Queen.' I followed the tip because I really didn't want to risk angering creepy disembodied voices. Apparently the voices were right, since I found you lying on the ground and injured," Lizzie explained. Romeo's eyes widened.

"I believe you, but... wow, that is quite the story. I'm certainly as confused as you are," Romeo commented.

"Okay, your turn for story time. How did you end up picking up some pointy glass accessories?" Lizzie asked.