Virus (A Minecraft Story)

Chapter 10

Tashs POV

Pain. The terrible monster that ate away at my insides, clawing its way into my brain. I was outside my body, hovering in the air, watching myself, seeing the symbols. "Where am I? " I asked myself, looking down but seeing nothing but the Nether. "You're almost dead," A voice said, and my head jerked around. A man was standing there, a smile on his face, head tilted curiously. His black hair was wild and spiky, like he'd gone for a walk in the middle of a hurricane. His orange eyes sparkled, just a shade lighter than fire. He was wearing a brown jacket made from leather, a black singlet underneath it, wearing blue jeans. A necklace hung around his neck, the pendant a symbol of fire. He wore comfortable shoes, made for running. I stared at him, surprise dulling the pain. "Do I know you? " He shrugged. "Nope. I don't you either, but your power's pretty strong; when I passed out, you drew me to you. My powers came a few days ago, and it seriously hurt, but it looks like your Morph hurts a lot more. Where are my manners? The name's Dax, Dax Farcia. And you?" I blinked, a little startled. "Tash Festia. Where are we? What do you mean you got your powers a few days ago? " He frowned. "I got my powers. Duh. The End of Days are coming, so I ended up Morphing. As for where we are, we're both passed out, and our souls are communicating. What I'm curious to know is, what are you doing in the Nether? I got dragged here, but a M-R like you shouldn't be here." I shrugged. "We sort of ran into a zombie horde, found a secret library, got told about a bunch of non-existent gods and a race called Darkidi, then went off to look for the last of the Darkidi, called Sura, nicknaming himself Virus. The usual." I saw Dax's eyes widen, and he reached out and grabbed my wrist. "Hey!" I said angrily, trying to pull my wrist free. "Let go of me, jerk!" He turned my arm around, and saw my tattoo straightaway. He stared at it for a second, then looked up at me. "You're one of the Elementals. You're the Fire Elemental." I glared at him, tugging myself free. " Jeez, I wish everyone would stop perving at my tattoo!" I glanced down in time to see Loca turn over my arm and show it to Ana. "Oh my god!" I yelled at him from above. "You're all perverts! I know you can't get enough of me, but this is going too far!" Dax was trying not to smile. I resumed yelling at him instead. "Anyways, I have no idea what that means! I know they're three thousand years old, but I'm definitely not that old! I'm not a saviour of the world, I'm just an eighteen year old girl with freaky fire powers!" I sat down on thin air, tears rolling down my cheeks. Dax, after a brief hesitation, sat next to me. "It's o.k." He said quietly. "I get it. When I was introduced into this mess, I believed none of it. I had arguments with my family about it; we almost split apart because of it. Then, a few years ago, a woman came to me. She was thirteen at the time, probably your age that year, maybe a bit older. She seemed to be in a trance, but she came to me, and told me a prophecy. Then she disappeared, and I never saw her again." I glanced at him. "What was the prophecy? " He sighed. "It wasn't the usual rhyming bull, but that voice..." He took a breath, and began to tell it to me:

You shall suffer the terrible pain that is loss, and be taken from Earth to Fire. You shall meet four Realmers, who will rescue you from your torment. There will be a terrible war, which will seem completed, but will continue on. But you will find love with the one who you are bonded, with both mind and heart.

He shrugged. "It doesn't make any sense, apart from the Earth to Fire." He smiled wryly. "Overworld to Nether. I'm not blind." I smiled, then posed a question. "Do you really believe in these so-called gods? " He returned my gaze steadily. "Yes, I do. Where I was raised, we didn't pray for more food or shelter, we asked for guidance. We had a sole god, I can't remember his name, who we prayed to before we went out to hunt or go to battle, and his prayer was like this: Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, have -" "The courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." I finished the prayer for him. He stared at me in shock. "How the hell did you know our prayer? It was our own sacred prayer, a thing that was known to our village only!" He squinted at me suspiciously. "Are you sure you're not from a village? " I frowned. "I don't know how I knew it; I was a wanderer. Even if I was born in a village, I don't remember it..." That was partially the truth. I had no idea about my childhood, but I did remember a few stray images from time to time. Then there was a jolt in my stomach, and I was being dragged across the ground, watching mobs run towards us. Then I was up in the air again. "What was that? " I said, bewildered. Dax sighed sadly. "You're waking up. And soon I will, too. More torture for me. Yaaaaaay." He looked dejected. I tapped him on the head. "Hello? Anybody in there? Your prophecy stated that you'd be rescued, yes? Well, we're Realmers, there's four of us. I still don't believe in these gods, but I have a priestess friend who believes in prophecies. I don't mess with her, 'cause she's scary. So where're you being held? " He looked skeptical. "Why not? You're in Death's Corner, huh? Well, you climb up Fire Mountain, cross the Spitting Chasm, and then you have to run across the Bottomless Plains. Then you'll see Hell's Prison." He gave me a small smile. "Hopefuuly I'll see you later, Tash. Try not to die on your friends next time, alright? It looks like you all need each other, or you fall apart." He then did an odd gesture. Dax touched two fingers to his temple, then placed them against my shirt, where my heart would be. He stood, and winked at me. "Try not to die, o.k? I've still got to convince you that you're wrong about the gods." Then my stomach tensed, and I was back in real life. "Stupid idiot..." I muttered, then glanced over. Ana was lying there, bleeding. A zombie pigman stood above her, triumph in its tiny little eyes, wanting to watch the kill. I reacted without thinking. I put my hands out, and a tingling in my fingers turned to searing heat, and flames erupted from my hands, blasting the pigman in the face. He toppled over, headless, and I got up, looking at my hands. This fire could kill fire-proof mobs? Pretty cool. I walked over to Ana, who looked at me with a dazed expression. "You're not dying on me." I told her, and picked her up. Fire lifted me up the face of the cliff, and I landed on the top in a few seconds. I gently set Ana down, and turned away. "They're going to pay for this." Fire flared in my hands again. I'd summoned fire only twice, but I already felt in control of my new powers. "Time to bring the fight to the uglies." I leapt down the cliff, whooping with delight. Part of me thought, this is a stupid idea. Why did I do this again? But the another part was like, we do not fear this. We know our limits and powers. It made no sense, but that voice didn't sound like mine. Fire shot from my feet, and I hit the ground like I was spider-surfing. The fire carved a smooth surface into the cliff, leaving it smoking. When I was about to slam into the ground I pushed off, slamming headfirst into a blazer. It fell onto its face, and I drew my bow, slashing at the mob. It dropped, blood streaming from its back. I attacked furiously, then saw Lyta trying to hold off a mob. I jumped, and kicked the Wither skeleton in the back. He fell, tumbling into the lava below. I picked Lyta up, and noticed the terrible burn marring her beautiful features. I touched the wound gently. "I'm so sorry, Lyta. I couldn't get to you in time." As I held her, the burn began to shrink. Within seconds, it was gone, and her undamaged eyes shot open. "Whaaa..." I put her down. "You get to Loca and heal him. I'll defend you." I swept my hands wide, and fire came shooting towards the mobs, running at his new threat. They thought they were immune to fire, but then my fire hit them full blast, and they would collapse, holes burned through their chests, or burst into flames and roll arpund shrieking. I sliced a spider in half, kicked a blazer over the edge and burned a zombie pigman down to the bone. I dispatched the last mob with savage intent, then looked over at Lyta. She was feeding Loca one of our cookies. He was looking pale, but he seemed o.k. He smiled at me. "Nice save there. Where's Ana?" There was a slithering sound, and an unconscious Ana slid down my path and into view. Lyta picked up her healing potion, swirled it around, and threw part of into Ana's face. She spluttered and choked, looking outraged, but the wound quickly closed. She lay there for a minute. "That sucked." I nodded. "I know, but I have a lead." They looked at me, alert. We'd been thrown into this, but we didn't want our world destroyed. We wanted Virus gone. I told them about my vision, and the man called Dax. I told them that he would've heard any news about Virus, or it could even be his hideout. They agreed, and packed up. I missed my horse, and my wolf Buddy, but we'd agreed to leave them behind, to keep them safe. I often saw bored Realmers leave their horse to wander to its death, or not properly care for their pet and get him or her killed. It always made me angry, but there was nothing I could do. Loca paused, pickaxes in hand. "Are you sure this wasn't a Virus-induced vision?" I shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it isn't, but if it is, we can force one of them to tell us where he is." Loca didn't seem convinced by this, but we started walking anyways. We made our way around the hole in the ground, and started heading for the cliff looming above us. As we reached the base of the cliff, and looked up at the top far, far above, clutching our weapons and looking around nervously, I wondered if Amber was having an easier time in the Overworld.

Hey guys! I just want to thank you all for reading, I appreciate it. I'd also like to recommend Fighting Free, by firekillerflora, and Mine by amberstars.

Tash