WITHERSICKNESS [MCSM INFECTION AU]

Chapter 56: Ghast tears

“Lukas, I’ll be fine.” Jessica assured, packing her bag. “I know, I just worry. Especially after what happened at the cave, the ‘incident’, and the fight with Axel and Olivia.” He added. “Don’t worry, I’ll return her with the ghast tears, and we’ll make this cure.” Jessica assured.

“I sure hope so. I might have some of it, too. When it’s done, I haven’t been feeling the best.” He chuckled nervously. “I can tell you're deathly pale, not to mention how tired you look. You just look really sick and fragile. Like if glass were human.” Jessica pointed out. “Not to mention my horrible migraines.” Lukas joked.

“But I assure you, I’ll be perfectly fine.” She grinned. Lukas added,“Just be safe, we-” “We don’t need anymore people dead or hurt?” Jessica interrupted. “Yeah.” Lukas chuckled. “Just rest, and I’ll return with the cure.” She requested. “Alright, I’ll take it easy.” Lukas added.

***

Jessica arrived at the exit of the base, seeing Ivy. “There you are, I worried for a second.” She added, trying to joke, but her tone not sounding playful. “I was just saying goodbye to Lukas. He’s been hella worried about me ever since the run-in with Gill and when Olivia attacked me in the cave.” Jessica replied. “He seems like a good friend.” Ivy pointed out. “Yeah... I just wished I was a better friend to him.” Jessica sighed. “What happened?” Ivy asked.

“Well, when Jesse was left behind, I got into a huge argument with Olivia. Lukas was getting tired of the yelling and pointed out that I wasn’t being a good friend, not checking in on him, doing normal basic things when I knew he wasn’t okay. I just thought he might need space. And now, he basically has no one.”

“Why’s that?”

“He had to kill Maya, tried to save her, and failed and had to watch her die again, same with Gill and Aiden. And Jesse... he watched him die, too. When we returned to the lab, Jesse was already gone by the looks of it. You saw him. He looked... different. Lukas was stuck back there... and had to watch him, a person who comforted him through basically everything, die. He’s watched almost every one of his friends die. I just wished I could have helped him.”

Ivy frowned, seeing how disappointed Jessica was in herself. “You know that one guy who— Jesse right?— was looking for?” Ivy asked. “Ivor? Yeah.” Jessica answered. “And how he ran into a woman who looked like her?” Ivy questioned. “Yeah? Wait... I knew I recognized you!” Jessica responded.

“Olivia does want to fix this too, but she’s just doing this in an unpleasant way. She felt bad too— well, at first— but then she saw how bad he was infected. She thought it was a different person. That it was just a thing in his corpse. A monster.”

“Oh...” Jessica stated. “But all that sympathy was lost when she realized she might not be able to save him. At this point, I think she’s trying to kill him.” Ivy pointed out. “Oh no.” Jessica added, worried. “I just hope she doesn’t get out of the closet I put her in.” Ivy answered, walking forward, Jessica following.

***

The two arrived at the Nether portal, Jessica looking worried. “You alright?” Ivy asked. “Yeah, I just ran into someone last time I was in the Nether.” Jessica chuckled nervously. “Well, we won’t be in there for long, I think it only takes six, so all we have to do is kill six of them if we’re lucky.” Ivy added. They slowly walked into the portal.

Jessica admired the Nether, not being able to the first time she was there. “Pretty sight, huh?” Ivy asked. “Yeah. Wait, you’ve been to the Nether?” Jessica questioned. “Yeah, when Olivia had me do trips, I’d drop by here to gather supplies and blaze rods.” Ivy smiled.

Jessica stayed silent, the aweing slowly turning into a frown. “What’s the matter? Thought about the Nether?” Ivy asked. “No, I just... I had this friend who’s been here before. We were close. She said she’d tried to take me here after the trade.” Jessica smiled in a gloomy manner. It slowly turned into a frown again.

“But she never came back. We got separated. And when I saw her... she wasn’t herself. She’d try to attack me. She was... infected.” Jessica added, tears forming. Ivy felt empathy for her, hugging her. “I’ve felt that. One of my friends got infected. I tried to help them, but I got infected.” Ivy replied. “H-how’d you get the burn-looking thing on your face?” Jessica asked.

“The sickness had mutated one side of my face. That’s why I wear the hood, so people don’t assume I’m infected and kill me. Plus, if they find out I’m immune, they’d kill me.” Ivy answered. “O-one of my friends we’re immune. They’d gotten it, though. It didn’t work. They had to sacrifice blood and all, and he always seemed a little bit fragile when he came back.” Jessica added.

“Let me guess, it didn’t work? The only way an immune person can cure someone is if they had the cure. It strengthens their immune system, making it so they can fight it off. It’s still there, but it gets rid of it slowly.” Ivy replied. “Yeah. Same with another. Now, he’s dead, and my friend is just not in good condition.” Jessica continued. “Let me guess, the immune friend is the blonde?” Ivy asked. Jessica nodded.

“Hm, well, I won’t make you say anything, plus, he’s clearly been through shit. He’s all paranoid and has been acting weird, like, not wanting to share anything.” Ivy pointed out. Jessica nodded, staying silent. “Well, let’s go get ourselves some ghast tears!” Ivy added, leading Jessica to a good area where ghasts were.

They kept on fighting them off, catching the ghast tears. After a while, Jessica had collected the limit Ivy said. She turned around, seeing a ghast right behind her while she was busy with another. It launched a fireball straight at her. “LOOK OUT!!” Jessica yelled, running over and pushing her away from the fireball, hitting her right in the arm.

Ivy groaned in pain, seeing Jessica on top of her. Ivy noticed her holding her arm, seeming in pain. Ivy looked at it, seeing her arm clearly damaged, a huge burn and around the burn being black, slowly fading to her skin tone. “You okay!?” Ivy asked in a panic. “Y-yeah.” She stuttered.

Ivy squeezed her arm and near the spot, making Jessica yelp in pain, tears streaming down. “That’s pretty bad. You’ll need to rest when we get back.” Ivy answered. “I’ll be fine!” Jessica assured. “P-plus, I’ve got six already.” Jessica added.

“That’s good. We have plenty. Now let’s get back before your arm gets worse.” Ivy replied in a hurry, wrapping it in bandage material. “This should work for now.” Ivy answered, helping Jessica up. They left the Nether, Jessica’s arm hurting and burning.