Madness {Minecraft: Story Mode Fanfiction} {REWRITE IS OUT!!}

Chapter 5

I carefully opened the door to the lab, and marveled at how many books there were. The walls were lined with bookshelves, all of them full. "How can one person read this many books?" Petra asked. I replied, "Good question, but what matters right now is finding that enchanting book." We all split up to find the book.

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"A brief history of cubism... Crafting for noobs revised... A collector's guide to precious gems..." I sighed and put the books back. We had been looking for almost an hour by now. We still hadn't found it. "How will we find one book amongst thousands of others?" I asked myself. I looked over at Lukas, who was still searching. "Having any luck?" I asked him.

"No..." He replied. "I've just been thinking about other stuff, actually."

"Stuff such as...?" I asked.

"You know..." He continued. "Gabriel, the Ocelots... People getting amnesia, and wither sickness..." As soon as I heard him say that I turned my head away and tried to forget about it.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I came with you, but... I'm just scared for everyone." I don't know why, but hearing him say that made me smile. "You're a good friend, Lukas. The fact that you're always thinking about others... It says a lot."

Lukas replied, "Well, I like my friends. I guess that's why they're friends in the first place, right?"

I jokingly responded, "Either that, or you like that they say nice things about you." Lukas smiled. "Ivor, on the other hand... I think his only friends were books."

"I guess being an angry loner leaves you a lot of time to read," I replied.

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After even more searching, there was still no sign of the enchanting book. I was starting to get tired of looking. I saw Olivia by my side looking. "Any luck?" I asked.

"Not really," she replied. "Ivor has too many books, and there's too few of us looking. How did we end up all split up like this? I feel like we're spreading ourselves too thin."

I tried to console her a bit. "Look, we might be spread thin, but we're all still a team. That's how teams work." Olivia grinned. "You almost said 'teamwork'." I replied, "See? We're still funny, AND we can still get things done!"

"I guess being split up just means we can be in more places at once, right?" Olivia said. "Kinda... like... the Wither Storm..." Her smile faded.

"Let's just forget that metaphor," I suggested.

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As I was continuing to search, I saw Soren angrily rummaging through a stack of books. "Find anything yet?" I asked.

"In this mess?" Soren growled. "It's as though Ivor learned nothing from my lectures on organizational methodology! If only he hadn't gotten lost in that confounded swamp, he could just tell us where the book is!"

"We don't need Ivor," I replied. "We can find this book on our own." Soren rolled his eyes. "Ha! Not in this mess! Are you mad? There's neither rhyme nor reason to how these books are stored. Finding anything here is impossible!"

"Tedious, maybe..." I said. "Impossible -- no way."

"Fine," Soren huffed. "I will continue this monotonous search. But I reserve my right to grumble about it." I sighed. There was no way to reason with him.

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I had finally made my way out of the maze of bookshelves. After going through almost all of them, I had found nothing. The only thing I found was a disabled redstone circuit. "I'd need a lever to activate it..." I said quietly to myself.

I managed to find some cobblestone and wood in a nearby chest. While I was crafting, I broke out into another coughing fit. Blood was spattered across the top of the crafting table. I tried my best to hide it, but it was eventually seen by Petra. "...It's gotten even worse..." She said. "Jesse, you shouldn't push yourself. You'll just get weaker faster."

I replied, "I can't give in now. Remember what Ivor said earlier? The cure is here. As soon as we get it, we'll be in perfect shape to defeat the Wither Storm!" Petra's face fell. "...What if it isn't here? What will you do then?"

The thought of that horrified me, but I shook it off and tried to stay encouraged. "Then I'll fight through the sickness! Even if it costs me my life!" Petra responded, "You never stop fighting. I like that about you. But, Jesse... try to take care of yourself. We want you alive for this."

I smiled. "Thanks, Petra. For everything. Without you and everyone else, I wouldn't have made it this far. I owe everything to you guys." Petra didn't say anything at first. She slowly walked over and hugged me. "Stay strong," She whispered. No matter what, I'll always try to.

Even if it kills me.