Virus (A Minecraft Story)

Chapter 17

Ana's POV

We were walking down a sloping hill of netherrack, avoiding the fires and sudden drops. I was getting really tired of seeing endless netherrack; I felt nostalagic for the Overworld, even the End. Loca was leaping about like an enthusiastic sheep, almost falling sometimes but catching himself with air. I was really wishing my earth power would turn up - if it was an earth power. Maybe it was complete coincidence that we have three out of four powers that these 'Allies of the Creators.' I almost laughed out loud. Coincidence. Right. "There is only hitsuzen." I murmured, and Lyta looked back at me. "What did you say?" "Nothing." I replied, and concentrated on not falling to my death. The hill started to flatten out, and I saw a endless plain of netherrack, dotted with more fires. And, off in the distance, a giant fortress loomed, fashioned from nether brick. I couldn't see it properly, but I could just make out iron bars and a pair of watchtowers. Tash had her eyes fixed on the prison, occasionally walking through flames. She'd barely spoken since we'd started walking; she was either thinking about Dax, whoever he was, or recalling her close encounter with the Virus guard dog. Maybe both. She hadn't mentioned our little talk/attempt to murder each other, but I had the feeling she hadn't forgotten, just waiting for me to tell her what was up with me. I would've by now - hell, I would've told her years ago, when we were kids. But the danger my hidden life posed, to my friends and to me, was too great. Unless they opened their eyes to the world and saw what was really around them, I couldn't involve them in my perils. Lyta kept glancing over at us, opening her mouth as if to say something, then snapping it shut abruptly and turning away. I didn't ask. Then Tash stopped abruptly, causing Loca to stumble into her. "We're here. Bottomless Plains." Loca craned his neck. "Doesn't look bottomless to me." "You look bottomless to me." I said jokingly. "Shut up." He scowled at me and I grinned. "I know you love me..." He rolled his eyes but blushed as he retorted, "No I don't." Tash slapped him. "It may not look bottomless, but I'm pretty sure the holes in the plain are. We need to avoid them at all costs." Tash was suddenly a commander, ordering her troops into war. She went first, striding onto the plains. I followed cautiously. "This place is stable, right?" She glanced back at me. "The holes? No. The plains? Possibly not." I suddenly felt queasy, but I was already out there. Too late to turn back. Lyta jumped past me, with Loca walking just behind me. We walked across the plain in silence, our swords clinking against our armour. I looked at my emerald armour, which was burned, cracked and worn out. I really needed some new armour. So did Loca and Lyta. Lyta's boots were long gone, and Tash's armour had disintegrated as she fell off the bridge. Luckily for her, she wasn't affected by fire. Loca had found his helmet, and now it was obscuring his face. I took another step, and something cracked. I glanced at my armour, but it was still intact. I wondered if I'd imagined the noise, but the others had frozen as well, lustening. Then I looked down, and saw the crack in the ground beneath me. I had my wits about me, so I had time to lunge before a massive cracking sound like thunder ripped through the air, and a hole opened up in the ground. Huge chunks of netherrack fell into the chasm below, where the gloom swallowed it up. I peered downwards. "That was close." Tash looked down too, then frowned. "I think I just found out how this stays up." Loca walked towards her. "Isn't this thing solid? I thought you told me it was solid." Tash rolled her eyes at him, a spark of her old self flickering to life. "It's called Bottomless Plain for a reason, idiot. I don't think you guys can see it, but I'm in my element here, so I can. There's a horizontal vein of nether brick down below, with vertical ones branching off from it, supporting the ground we're standing on." She squinted, then went pale. "There's a massive crack in the horizontal vein, and the netherrack that just fell in's heading straight for it." I felt my blood go cold. "So we should run?" "Run," agreed Tash, and we started sprinting. As I leapt over a fire there was a sound like  a Wither going off, that just kept going and going and going... I glanced back, and immediately regretted it. The ground was crumbling into red dust, like it was being eaten by a giant monster from below. The void grew larger as the ground grew smaller, heading towards us as fast as a spider. "Faster!" I yelled over the cracking and groaning as the pillars all collapsed underneath us. The castle was in view now; I could see the watchtowers, and the wither skeletons with dead black eyes that guarded them. One of them drew his poisoned sword and prepared to throw it. But then he stumbled, and the ground to my left fell away rapidly. The left watchtower crumbled, taking down the terrified mobs. We raced the ladt few metres before skidding to a halt, panting and sweating. I looked behind me to see the chasm that had just replaced Bottomless Plains, thanks to us. "Well," Lyta said once my heart had stopped drumming at my ribcage, "I guess it'll have to be called Bottomless Void now." Tash turned away. "At least that's over, though. Cmon, nearly there." We crept past the rubble of the left watchtower, but couldn't see the owners of the right watchtower. I had my staff out, ready to attack any mob that jumpscared me. The castle, Hell's Prison, was huge. It was one huge room with turrets up top; for high-level prisoners, I guessed. Iron bars were set into the turrets, and wove together to make an iron door which was the entrance. Lyta tried it, but it was locked. Loca smashed it with air, but it held. "How are we supposed to get in?" He demanded, pounding the door with his fist. Tash held out her hand to Lyta. "I need that iron ingot." She rummaged around her bag and brought it out, handing it to Tash. "What do you need it for?" "You'll see." Tash said evenly, and her hands burst into flame. The front end of the iron melted instantly, and she shoved it into the lock. "Hold its shape." She told Loca, who put his hand out. The scorching hot metal came out in the shape of the lock, and Tash nodded to Lyta. "Blast it." Lyta shook her head. "Water doesn't work in the Nether, remember?" Tash looked patient. "It works for a second. Just try it." Lyta held her hands out, and water blasted the key with a sizzling sound. Tash held it up, and her makeshift key glinted in the light. She bowed to us. "Thank you very much. And for my next trick..." She unlocked the door and kicked it open, fire flaring in her hands. "I'm going to kill all the mobs in this place." She ran in, and there was the sound of a mob shrieking. We ran after her, and immediately there was a zombie pigman in my face, squealing. I took it out with a slice to its neck and kept moving. Tash had already burned the mobs so they couldn't move from the agony, leaving us to dispatch them. Scanning the room, I took in three rows of balconies, each one doing a full circle around the gigantic room we were in. Torches were set on the walls, giving the drab nether brick prison a slightly less hostile feel to it. And, dug into the walls behind the balconies, were the cells. Mobs and players clutched the iron bars confining them, or sat on their seats, staring blankly at the ground. Most of them were players in black clothes, but there were a few mobs, too. A wither skeleton smashed away at the bars in his cell, demanding that he be given his sword back. A blazer was trying to melt the bars, with no result. And a zombie pigman stood in his cell, his eyes fixed upon us. His eyes were what startled me the most; they were human eyes, with light gold-grey irises. Tash was already running up a set of stairs, obviously heading for the turrets. Loca sprinted after her, and I made to follow, but Lyta suddenly put her hand on my shoulder. I looked back at her, to find her as pale as snow. "Look, Ana, there's something I need to tell you." I shrugged. "O.k then. Fire away." Lyta twisted a strand of long blonde hair nervously between her fingers. "The thing is, I've been too afraid to tell the others, but now we have powers, I'm going to take a leap of faith, but I want to tell you first, because I know you have gifts." My heart stopped working, and my skin prickled. "You know?" I whispered to her. She nodded. "Like you, I don't know why I have it, but I'm doing some research on it. But I just wanted to say that I've got a very rare power - one that most people would kill for." I felt my eyes widen. "You don't mean-" Then there was a muffled boom up high, and I said quickly, "Come on, we'd better go before Tash blows everyone up." We jogged up the steps, and we reached the turret with flames coming from it. I carefully stepped over the melted door and into the small room. Tash was staring through the only set of iron bars in the room, at the occupant in it. Loca was next to her, eyebrow raised. For a moment, she was expressionless. Then she broke into a smile. "So you do exist. Nice to meet you face to face, Dax. Want us to bust you out?" I looked into the cell, and what I saw wasn't what I expected at all. I was expecting a wild man with a rugged beard, dressed in rags, who'd been driven insane by years of this crazy 'Hell's Prison'. Instead I saw a tall, confident man dressed in a clean brown jacket, black singlet and blue jeans. A necklace glinted at his throat, his black hair was wild but still neatly cut, and his orange eyes were full of intelligence. He glanced at me and winked. "How ya doin? The name's Dax." He looked over at Tash. "So... breaking me out?" She grinned, then grabbed the bars. They melted instantly, and Dax jumped out, looking relieved. "Thank god. I've been in there so long, I was gonna go crazy." He held his hand out to Tash, despite the fact he'd just seen her hands melt solid iron. "Nice to meet you." She shook his hand. "Should we get out of here?" Then Tash slapped her forehead. "Where are my manners? This is my friend Ana." She waved at me, and I saluted. She pointed at Loca. "This is the crazy psycho I call my friend," Loca stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes, "And that's Lyta." She finished, just as Lyta came into view. The moment they caught sight of each other, they both froze. Lyta couldn't stop staring at him. "Oh, damn..." Dax made a choking sound. "It's you. Oh my god, it's actually you..." I looked between them. "You two know each other?" Dax pointed at Lyta with a shaking finger. "This woman... I know her. She..." He swallowed nervously. "She's the one who told me my prophecy."