Virus (A Minecraft Story)

Chapter 6

My eyes opened. I stared at the ground, which was yellow-white, smooth to the touch. I lifted my head slowly, wondering what I would see. The same block stretched out for miles, rising and dropping in places. The sky was a hazy purple, unusually dark. Great pillars of obsidian soared into the sky, dark and intimidating. In other words - we were in the End. There was a groan to my left, and I turned my head. Ana was sprawled on the ground, face squished into the ground. I grinned. "You alright?"Ana lifted her head, spat rocks out of her mouth and glared at me. "What do you think?" I got to my feet, stretching, then pulled Ana to her feet. She looked around. "So this is the End. Meh. Pretty drab." Then she turned in a circle. "Where are the others?" I spun around. Sure enough, the others were nowhere to be seen. "Where are they?" I demanded, panicking. "Look, there's no point panicking. This is a small place, we'll find them." I could tell Ana was also worried, but she just blew her brown hair out of her face and brandished her staff. "Let's get moving." I sucked in my breath, let it out loudly, and began to walk alongside Ana. There was eerie silence; there were no animal sounds, no rushing wind, no rustle of grass. The place was a dead, floating island in a endless abyss. "So," I said, as we walked, eyes peeled for our friends, "I saw this tattoo on your shoulder, and I was wondering about it..." I trailed off as Ana stopped dead in her tracks, her head swivelling to look at me. "What tattoo?" She asked softly. I raised my eyebrows. "Seriously?" You don't know it's there?" Ana didn't reply, just looked at me. I began to feel woozy, nauseous. "What's going on?" I said through unresponsive lips, as my knees started to buckle. "What's going ooonnn..." I fell forwards, unable to throw my arms out to save myself. My head struck the ground, and as the world disappeared in the swirl of darkness that was unconsciousness, all I could see were a pair of glowing green eyes.

*

I sat up, rubbing my head. "Ugh. What the Nether just happened?" Ana was crouching next to me, looking worried. "You tripped over and hit your head. Ae you o.k? It looked pretty nasty. There was concern in her eyes, and something else - it looked a lot like guilt. "Are you sure it wasn't an enderman?" I asked, getting to my feet, wincing. Ana shook her head. "There's nothing here. No endermen at all. It's like they've teleported away. No sign of the Ender Dragon, except for a broken pillar." Ana paused. "Do you remember anything?" I frowned. "Other than hitting my head? Nope." She nodded, then sighed. "Everything's changing. I don't like it." "Neither do I." I said grimly, peering through the gloom. My arm gave a sudden twinge of pain, but I ignored it. "Now, where do you think they ar-" Ana looked up suddenly, eyes wide. "Loca!" She sprinted across the ground, and I followed suit, thinking it was a trick, determined to save her. But, about fiftu blocks later, I heard a faint cry of pain rip through the once-silent night. I sped up, and so did Ana. A thought flitted into my brain - how did Ana hear that? But then we ran past the obsidian pillar blocking our view, pain racked my arm and a nightmare scene was revealed. Lyta was frantically going through her pouch of medicine, tears running down her face. Loca was curled into a ball, screaming in agony. He was terribly pale, spasming like he'd been poisoned. Bottles were scattered on the, the most powerful potions we had apparently unable to help. "Loca!" Ana cried out, running forwards. "Stop her!" Lyta snapped, and I dragged Ana back. She was hitting me, screaming, "What's wrong with him? What's happening?" Lyta stared down at him, blue eyes red from crying. "He'd been a little off when we turned up on the other side of tge End, but I thought it was Portal sickness. Then he just collapsed, and I couldn't get him to wake up. And now he's gotten to this stage, I don't know what to do..." "Can you tell what the disease is?" I asked, still restraining Ana. Lyta laughed shakily, hysterically. "I think I have a fair idea..." She reached out, cautious, and turned him over. We gasped. Those strange symbols were running across his torso, up his chest, his neck, covering his face. Ana stared. "Oh, god, Loca..." He let out another moan, and suddenly foam was dribbling from his mouth, and Lyta was trying to force a healing potion down his throat. It was terrible, watching my best friend dying; I wanted to save him, but there was nothing I could do. He jerked suddenly, almost throwing himself into a pillar, and then dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. "Loca!" We shouted, and Ana ran to him, kneeling over him. His eyes were closed and he wasn't breathing. I came over and bowed my head. "Is there any hope?" Lyta closed her eyes. "Those symbols gave mobs powers. I don't think it would work on Realmers..." We bowed our heads, thinking of Loca. A tear made its way down my cheek. I remembered Loca, his teasing, his kindness, his amazing friendship. There was a weak cough. My eyes snapped open. Loca was sitting up, the symbols. All three of us threw ourselves at him, hugging him tightly. He laughed. "I guess I have to die to get affection around here. We pulled back, and Lyta frowned. "Are you o.k? Was that Virus trying to kill you?" He shook his head. "I don't think so. As soon as I entered the End, something happened." He got up and stretched, spreading his arms wide. "Well, I guess we should-" We all gasped. Lica looked confused. "What's up?" Then he looked down, and realised he was floating in the air, unsupported, six blocks high. He stared at us, and us at him. I was the one to break the shocked silence. "What in Notaru?"