SHADOW KNIGHT'S REVENGE: A Minecraft Diaries Fan-Fiction

Chapter XIX: This is Not a Dream

Laurance and Arabella roamed about the village for the rest of the day as a casual hangout. It was starting to get late, and they were sitting at the docks.

"I still can't believe this is Phoenix Drop," commented Arabella after a while. "It's so different. Even though we've already been here for a few weeks, this still feels so surreal."

"I know what you mean," replied Laurance. "I mean, the drastic difference from then and fifteen years later is still pretty overwhelming. At least, we're all here together. Err, most of us."

"Garroth'll be back, soon enough," said Arabella optimistically.

"I hope so." Laurance took a deep breath and gazed at the ocean.

They sat in a tranquil silence for a little while, before Arabella turned to Laurance. "Hey, Laurance?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," she simply said.

He tilted his head. "For what?"

"For everything." Arabella smiled. "It's pretty late. We should head back to the treehouse."

He nodded, and they went back there together.

Aphmau and Katelyn were already fast asleep. Aaron was nowhere to be seen. Soon enough, Laurance fell asleep in his own bed, and Arabella crashed onto hers. Within moments, she drifted off to sleep.

~•~

Arabella returned to the creepy and desolate dreamworld once more. Unlike last time, now, she knew what was going on. The Shadow Lord was going to keep messing with her head until she gave up and joined him. However, Arabella couldn't be swayed so easily.

"What do you want?" shouted Arabella into the void. She wasn't scared, this time. "Are you going to do this every night? It's not going to work. No offence, but your plan sucks."

There was no response. Arabella smirked. This was a small victory for her. She decided to walk around the large tree to see if there was any difference. To her astonishment, Garroth was actually here.

"Garroth?" she called out to the blond figure, clad with armour. He was facing the tree, and he refused to turn around. "Garroth, I'm pretty sure we only have a few minutes here. Do you mind responding?"

Finally, he turned around, but the sight was not what Arabella expected. Sure--it resembled Garroth greatly, but the eyes of this figure were pure black, including the whites.

Arabella jumped backwards. This was definitely not Garroth. Unfortunately, Demon Garroth started walking towards her, whilst she backed away, her pace getting faster with every step.

"You're absolutely worthless," spat Demon Garroth. His voice was exactly like Garroth's, but much harsher and raspier--almost like the Shadow Lord's. "When people get killed, they stay dead. Why can't you stay dead? Everyone liked you better when there was a sword running through you!"

Arabella tried to ignore him and continued backing away from him, until she bumped into something else. She whipped around to find Aphmau, but just like Demon Garroth, her eyes were jet-black and void, and her voice was different.

"Pathetic," growled Demon Aphmau, shaking her head. "I loathed you from the moment I met you. You've been nothing but dead weight, and all of us were dancing on your grave. You just had to show up and ruin everything again, like you always do. You always mess it up. You're not even useless--you're counterproductive. Die, already!"

"Shut up," muttered Arabella, "shut up..." She started running away from the two void versions of her friends, until she came across a mirror. When she took a glance at it, she found out that the reflection in the mirror had the same, white-less eyes and a condescending glare.

"Even you admit that you're a fool," chided her demonic self. "You call yourself bitter and stupid. You know that your actions only hurt others, yet you haven't stopped doing that. What a horrible person! No wonder everyone wishes you were still dead."

Unable to take it any longer, Arabella smashed her fist into the mirror, and it broke into a million shards. Her hand started bleeding as some pieces of it embedded themselves into it, but she didn't care. None of this was real.

The mirror disappeared, and behind it were its remnants, scattered everywhere. Arabella ran across it, and her two feet started bleeding on impact. Soon enough, there was blood everywhere, but that didn't matter. Arabella kept running until the path of broken glass ended. She was standing in a pool of her own blood. She turned around, and she could vaguely make out the silhouettes of the demonic figures. They almost looked like they were waiting for Arabella's next move.

"You can't hurt me!" she shouted at them, and even at the Shadow Lord. "None of this is real. This is just a simple nightmare, and the moment I wake up, this will all be over. Now, let me wake up!"

"You can't wake up; this is not a dream." A new and dreadfully familiar voice appeared right behind Arabella. She turned around to find Laurance with pitch black eyes like the others, but he was wielding a blood-stained sword.

"Stop it," whimpered Arabella, backing into a corner as he took a step forward. "Stop it!"

"You're a terrible human being," started Demon Laurance. "Do you know how many people you've hurt? Do you know how many times you've hurt me? After all this, how do you still have a tiny and dimming flame of hope that I love you? How could anyone love a despicable human being like you?"

Arabella started shaking her head wildly. None of this was real. None of their words were real.

The other three demons showed up next to Demon Laurance.

"You're worthless," spat Demon Garroth.

"You're pathetic," hissed Demon Aphmau.

"You deserve to die," taunted Demon Arabella.

"Do you still think this is a dream, Arabella?" Demon Laurance shook his head, and edged closer to her. "Keep convincing yourself. Maybe, I'll do everyone a favour and kill you right now!"

Without any warning, he jabbed his blade deep into Arabella's neck.

Arabella woke up with a start. She was breathing heavily. The dream seemed unnaturally real, but she knew it was all in her head. She looked around to see that she was still in the treehouse, and it was still night. Everything was normal. Laurance was asleep in a chair next to Aphmau's empty bed. Other than that, everything was just how it was.

That was, until Arabella looked down at herself and screamed.

~•~

A/N: That subtle Halsey reference though, lol. And yay for cliffhangers and creepy dreams! What did Arabella see? I think it's quite obvious, but we'll see soon enough.

In the meantime, the Dancole/Kante drama going on in MCD makes my heart wrench. I don't know which of those I ship. ;-;

In any case, we're very near Chapter XXI, and that means a big event is going to happen there.

--(Gr)ace