Resentment -- MCD S3 Zenix x Laurence

Chapter 3

Zenix POV:

I sat on the corner of Laurence's desk. I went ahead of him with the assumption that he was right behind me.

I blew a piece of hair away from my face. The office was quiet, the ambience of the Nether was driving me insane. The subtle noises-- the cries of Ghasts in the distance, the clutter of Skeletons, the oinking of Piglins... there were so many sounds, yet the silence of the office was deafening.

I sigh and glance down at the paperwork on Laurence's desk, desperate for some kind of escape. Scattered across his desk were request forms, notes and documents. "This rebellion has a lot more paperwork than I thought it would have..." I shuffled some papers around, reading through his notes. Nothing stood out-- which was a bit disappointing.

I huffed as the door to the office opened.

"Took you long enough."

Laurence sighed and walked around me to sit in his desk chair.

"Sorry Zenix, I was stopped in the hallway and given an update on Shad."

I irked my brow, urging him to continue.

"Shad followed Aphmau, Katelyn and Garroth back through the Brightport portal." He said. Laurence sighed again and rested his face in his hands, leaning against the desk. "They provoked him or... something in the Overworld, and Shad closed the portal to Brightport. He's on his way back to the Fortress."

I frowned. It's not like any of us really use the Brightport portal-- large alarms go off any time something leaves it, not to mention it's heavily guarded. If you weren't prepared for a large-scale battle with the strongest guards in Ru'An, you were as good as dead. But the news that Shad closed the portal, was not good.

"So what does this mean for us?" Laurence groaned and slammed his face on the desk.

I watched him take in deep breaths, trying to calm his probably racing thoughts. Another groan erupted from his chest. "Things are happening on the surface Zenix, and Aphmau coming here is proof of it."

"What do you mean?"

Laurence stood up and began to pace in front of me. "Where Aphmau goes, chaos follows." He paused and scratched his head. "And Shad seeing her is only the beginning."

"So what do you think will happen next?"

Laurence began to pace again, biting his thumb in thought.

"I bet you that Shad is going to be focusing on the Overworld a lot more than usual going forward, meaning an open opportunity to attack the fortress might pop up soon." I stood up. "How can you be sure?"

"I was Aphmau's guard before I returned to the Nether. Trust me, I know better than anyone that shit is going to start happening." He stopped pacing and returned to his chair. He pulled himself closer to the desk, and began to organize his papers.

"So Zenix, what is this 'good news'?"

I patted myself down, looking for the notepad I was using on my earlier expedition. I eventually found it, letting out a small 'aha' and handed it to Laurence. He grabbed it and began to flip through it. I watched as the gears turned in his head, one by one putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"This--"

"Is the Fortress' Patrol Schedule."

He continued to flip through the notepad, looking through hours of my life I had written down.

"I was up there for multiple shifts-- the number of guards patrolling stayed relatively the same throughout the day; five guards to the East, ten to the West and three to the South. Each time the guards switched shifts, the security was pretty light on the South side. The only problem..."

"Is that's where the fortress connects to the Ocean." Laurence finished. He leaned back in his chair, biting his thumb in thought. He hummed and bounced his head side to side, seeming to bounce from one thought to the other in his mind.

"Is there any progress on making a lava-proof boat? Maybe out of those warped and crimson wood we found?"

I shook my head. "They float and technically can move, but they're so slow we may as well be swimming in the lava ourselves." He pursed his lips. "And the Striders are still useless?" I nodded. "They refuse to stay in place and even if we were able to tame them, the archers surrounding Shad's fortress shoot them down if they ever get too close."

Laurence groaned and slammed his face on his desk again. "Zenix, I'm going to be honest. I've run out of ideas." I hummed and began to pace around the office. "What if we... dug to the Fortress?" I asked.

"The netherack is fully cleared out around the Fortress specifically for that reason. Even if we come from the South, the lava ocean goes down for miles."

"Well..." I stopped in my tracks, a ludicrous idea popping into my head. "What if we went through the lava?" I say hesitantly.

Laurence's face shot up from the desk, his demonic red eyes burning into mine.

"Elaborate?"

"Well," I continued to pace around the office. "What if we engineered a device that could dig through the lava and create a walkway?" I stopped again and faced Laurence. His brow was furrowed in confusion, but the gears were turning in his head. Maybe this idea was more realistic than I thought? "Once the pathway is complete, we march through the Lava Ocean and break into the fortress from beneath."

We stared at each other, piecing the plan together silently.