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

Part 21: Back On Track

Lizzie took a few steps backward, then Romeo blasted Kali with a massive surge of brightly glowing red electricity. Kali let out an ear splitting screech and crumpled to the ground.

Lizzie's eyes widened. There was a long period of silence as the electricity dissipated and Kali laid on the ground, twitching like an injured bug.

"...That was definitely effective," Lizzie commented. A smirk spread across Romeo's face.

"Of course it was. I wouldn't have backed all of that talk up with nothing," Romeo replied. Lizzie nudged Kali with her foot.

"Yep, she's not getting up anytime soon. Then again, she could have some backup coming her way... so maybe we should just leave and not push our luck," Lizzie added. Romeo nodded his head.

"I did promise I'd meet up with Jesse and the others, so leaving as soon as possible is probably the best idea," Romeo replied. His eyes returned to their normal color.

Lizzie pushed back a strand of hair to get it away from her face. Romeo's mouth dropped open when he saw a pair of light blue fins where Lizzie's ears used to be.

"What? What is it? Is there someone behind me?" Lizzie asked.

"...I'm not even sure how to explain this," Romeo sighed. Lizzie bit her lip.

"Oh, great. Something you're not sure how to explain. This is going to be lots of fun," Lizzie muttered sarcastically. Romeo took a deep breath, then exhaled.

"There's... something wrong with your ears," Romeo answered. Lizzie walked over to the river.

"What do you mean, something wrong with my...?" Lizzie looked at her reflection in the water and covered her mouth to hold back a scream. "Oh my gosh... I'm... I'm a mutant fish freak," Lizzie gasped. She threw her hands in the air and began pacing back and forth. "How's Joel going to react to this?! 'Sorry Lizzie, I wanted to marry you, but now I'd rather have you as seafood dinner,'" Lizzie rambled. Romeo pressed his lips together.

"I promise that I'll try my best to help you fix everything. Nothing's impossible, not even finding a solution to... whatever this is," Romeo assured.

"Thanks, Romeo. I appreciate it. So... Any other theories? My ears seemed normal until I fell in the river, then they felt numb and so did my feet. I think that's when the weird fish mutations happened," Lizzie responded.

"Well, if you felt the same numbness in your feet... it's probably worth a quick look to see if anything changed," Romeo answered.

"I'm betting it's more weird fish stuff, but I really hope I'm wrong," Lizzie sighed. She slipped off her black flats.

Lizzie's feet had become light blue and she had webbed toes. Romeo desperately tried to think of something positive to say about Lizzie's predicament.

"Well... It could be worse, I suppose. You can hide your head fins behind your hair and the webbed feet are easily covered up by shoes," Romeo commented.

"'It could be worse.' A-plus pep talk, buddy," Lizzie said sarcastically. She slipped her shoes back on and used her hand to brush her hair over her fins. "Anyway, we should probably get out of here. We'll talk about this later in a safer and more private spot," Lizzie added.

Lizzie and Romeo began to walk away.

"Sorry I wasn't more helpful," Romeo apologized.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, I know you're trying your best. I just kind of assumed that since you've been around for a really, really long time, you'd know some lore that could help me out," Lizzie explained. Romeo shook his head.

"I've never really enjoyed reading about the ancient past because I've lived a lot of it and reading about it seems dull in comparison. True, I can't be everywhere at once... but if I'm missing a little thing that I wasn't present for, oh well. There's a lot of much more important matters and many ways I'd rather be spending my time. Lukas, on the other hand, is an expert on old legends. I bet he'd know something," Romeo said. Lizzie let out a deep sigh.

"I really, really hope he knows something," Lizzie responded.

- - -

Aiden, Lukas, and Jesse had been tearing apart Jesse's bedroom and leaving no stone unturned in search of the final clue.

Jesse threw the blanket off of her bed. Aiden removed picture frames on the wall to see if any clues were hiding behind them. Lukas emptied the bookshelf and quickly flipped through each book to check if a clue was wedged between the pages. The room now more closely resembled a disaster site than a living space... belongings were scattered all over the floor and everything was in disarray.

"So... Clearly the person hiding these clues suddenly decided she hates us. If she wanted to make us suffer by making this one a lot harder to find than the others, mission accomplished. Or maybe she isn't a complete trash bag and the final clue just isn't here," Aiden muttered. Lukas stifled a laugh.

"You're sounding a little bitter," Lukas commented.

"It's just- we've been looking for this stupid thing for over an hour. And you're still totally calm somehow," Aiden grumbled.

"Lukas' screams of frustration are on the inside," Jesse said, not looking up from the chest she was rummaging through.

"Well... Yeah, most of the time. I try my best to keep control of myself and not lose my temper," Lukas admitted.

"You're a pro at that. Really balanced out Maya, Gill, and I being overly competitive hotheads," Aiden chuckled.

Jesse picked up the clue they already possessed, wondering if there was a hint she missed.

"Hm... 'Go to the home of the leader of Beacontown, the Hero in Residence. Following your heart is the key for this riddle. You can solve this final clue, in you I have confidence,'" Jesse read under her breath. She paused for a moment, knitting her eyebrows together in concentration. "'Following your heart is the key for this riddle...' Oh my Notch. Aiden, I think you're actually right," Jesse gasped. Aiden let out a snort-laugh.

"What, about the clue person hating us?" Aiden asked.

"No, the other thing you said. I think we got the clue location wrong," Jesse explained.