Council of the Heir

Chapter Seven - filler chapter exposition etc.

Lydia woke up in the middle of the night.

She lifted her head up from the hard earth, blinking groggily around at the makeshift camp. Everyone else seemed to be asleep, and there was no sound other than the chirping of nighttime insects. Why was she awake?

Her thoughts abruptly went back to the previous night, when she had witnessed Lithian getting attacked, and sat up. Maybe she was supposed to be awake again.

Minutes passed, and nothing happened, causing her to slowly calm. Weird that she wasn't sleepy anymore. After a few days in this world, her sleep really seemed to have improved... maybe because she wasn't on her phone constantly. And was constantly performing manual labor. This whole trip seemed to be really good for her health except for when she got murdered.

The respawn mechanic thing was... weird. Maybe it wouldn't be so weird if she knew how she got here, but, as it stood, she had no idea. Maybe she was genuinely just dreaming. Sure, she'd been here for weeks, but sometimes dreams manufactured memories that spanned a longer period of time. How else could she explain the fact that she was in a book she wrote, hanging out with a girl who was the spitting image of her BFF, and got run through twice and didn't die?

Lydia rubbed at her eyes and scowled at a dandelion. How frustrating.

Her gaze shifted across the small campsite to where Valor was sleeping, facing away from her where he lay on a thin bedroll. His pickaxe was laying on the ground behind him, the diamond blade just barely exposed and glinting in the moonlight. Lydia bit her lip, checking around herself one more time, then stood, cautiously stepping around where Grace slept and sitting down next to the enchanted weapon.

She didn't move for a moment, just wondering where Herobrine was right now. He probably didn't sleep, as a ghost, but that was a cute image. Anyway, he was probably watching her, probably not pleased. What did he think about her? He was more mature than Valor, so probably less suspicious, but he was also very much a loner and didn't like people. Maybe more suspicious.

Lydia reached down and ran her fingers along the flat of the exposed blade. It was smooth and cold, like one would expect stone to be. There was just the faintest... tingle, or something, that ran up her arm when she touched it like the smallest of electric shocks. Oh yeah, lightning powers. It probably was an electric shock.

"Val won't like you touchin' that." The voice nearly made her jump out of her skin, and she drew in a sharp breath, whirling around to find Steven watching her evenly. She flushed, removing her hand.

"Yeah, that's why I waited till he was asleep." She muttered. Steven said nothing, and she turned back to the pickaxe. Yeah, he was right, Valor would probably kill her himself if he found her touching his father's precious pickaxe.

"So." She spoke up quietly. "Why'd you give him to Herobrine?" She turned back to Steven to find him eyeing her suspiciously. "He's Grace's cousin, your nephew, right? His parents d- passed away?" Let's try to be a bit more tactful. "Why not let William and Elizabeth raise him? Or why not take him in yourself?" She paused, backtracking a bit. "I don't mean to accuse, I'm just curious." Steven's lips thinned

"You're lucky he sleeps like a rock." He beckoned her over, and she stood to hurry over to him. "I was young," He began quietly. "I was seventeen when Jane died. Too young to raise a child, at least in my opinion. Herobrine n' I were close, and he was willing to take him in."

"Why not his aunt and uncle?" Lydia pressed. Steven sighed.

"Valor's not like them. Not like us." He cast a glance at his nephew, still asleep. "He's... well, undead. Not like th' zombies or skeletons that haunt battlefields an' mineshafts, but undead all the same. His soul was preserved by magic, using an ancient ritual." Steven hooked a thumb under the chain of the amulet he wore, lifting it up. "Using the magic from this." Lydia nodded. This just confirmed what she already knew, but it was good to know.