Misdirection [Ch. 17]

Jungle Biome, OverWorld

Resistance Base

"The resistance was founded on one core belief," Wendy said, "that belief was peace and freedom around the OverWorld."

Steve, Alex, and Eve were following Wendy as they ventured deeper into the vast and open cave. Other members of the resistance disbanded and went their own ways. As they got further away from the main entrance to the cave, the daylight slowly disappeared. Only the light from the torches hanging on the wall lit the way now.

Two large and polished quartz statues of blockheads stood tall and proud. The sea lantern's light, which hung from the cave's ceiling, shined bright. The first blockhead was holding a sword in his hand with a wooden shield in his other hand. The shield was made out of actual dark oak wood planks and iron blocks.

The one statue that stood out to Steve and Alex the most was one of a female blockhead. It had appeared as though she was wearing a baggy dress. A golden pointy crown was on her head. The crown was made out of gold blocks.

The statue was holding her arm up in the air. In her hand was an orb. Instead of that orb being crafted out of quartz, it was crafted out of blue-stained glass. Odd, right?

Was that orb symbolizing some sort of magical abilities this female blockhead had? Was she a witch? She did look very familiar to say the least. A little too familiar for their comfort.

"Wendy?" Steve asked.

"Yes?" Wendy replied.

They walked further away from the statues. Steve was very curious to know more about that female statue. Who was she? What was her name?

"Those statues we walked past?" Steve said.

"What about them?" Wendy asked.

"Were those real blockheads?" Steve questioned.

Wendy stopped walking. She turned around and faintly smiled.

"Curiosity," Wendy said, "isn't something everyone has nowadays. Most of us tend to forget about our past, only looking towards the future."

Steve frowned. He sighed heavily and shook his head. "You didn't answer my question. I asked about them, not whatever answer you just gave me!"

Eve and Alex gasped. After everything Wendy and the resistance has done for them this is how he treats her? How could he! Show some respect, right? Wendy scoffed.

They were all standing in the middle of a corridor that had seemed endless. There were many, many doors lining the walls on each side of the corridor. What lies behind each of these doors?

"Steve!" Alex said in an angry tone, "this is not how you treat others! You've never acted like this before. Why, all of a sudden, do you decide to act that way now?"

"No, no," Wendy said as she looked over at Eve and Alex.

Her friendly and welcoming mood suddenly changed. She lowered her eyebrows and put her hands behind her back. Instead of being friendly like she was just a moment ago, she suddenly turned aggressive and hostile towards Steve.

"We took you in, offered you a place to lay low, food and drinks. Heck, I was even going to offer to train you two," Wendy mentioned.

Steve took a step backwards. He knew he had overstepped it a little too much. Alex and Eve tried to break up the escalating argument. Eve grabbed Wendy's arm to hold her back from doing whatever it was she was going to do. But she didn't like that. Wendy looked over at Eve and Alex.

"Ya know what?" Wendy said, "I think you three have overstayed your welcome here! Leave!"

"What? No we can't!" Eve said, "we've come so far. Answers are still needed. We had hoped that—," Eve said as Wendy rudely interrupted her.

"You thought that we had all of the answers?" Wendy questioned, "normally I'm not a hostile blockhead, but your friend here overstepped his boundary. You all need to leave now!"

Alex looked back down the corridor, back towards the way from where they had come from. A group of blockheads, with powerful Netherite swords in their hands were frantically running towards them.

"I just wanted to know who those blockheads were," Steve argued, "that's all. There was no need to become hostile."

"And I told you that we don't dread our past. We only look into the future. That's how we've managed to survive this long," Wendy said, "if you can't grasp that fact, then you're no longer welcome here."

The group of blockheads ran over to them, but instead of using their swords to attack, they put them away into their inventories. Instead, they used their hands to grab on to Steve, Alex, and Eve. Wendy took her hands out from behind her back.

"I had really hoped it wouldn't have come to this, but it has," Wendy said, "I wish you all the best of luck in finding the answers you seek," Wendy continued to say as she made eye contact with the blockheads holding Steve, Alex, and Eve against their wills. She nodded her head at them.

"Get them out of my sight," Wendy said as she turned her back, "wipe their memories clean. They shall not remember they were ever here."

"Yes ma'am," one blockhead said.

Wendy began walking away as Steve, Alex, and Eve were forced to begin walking back towards the entrance of the cave. As Wendy walked down the corridor, she could hear Steve's voice echoing. She didn't bother to pay attention to it.

She walked up to a door and grabbed the handle. The room on the other side of the door was very dark. There was only a small amount of light in the room. A blockhead could be heard walking around. Wendy looked both ways, to her right and then to her left before entering. She had wanted to make sure there was no one watching her. There wasn't.

She opened the door and walked into the dark room, gently closing the door behind her.

In the center of the room was a single table. There was a glowing glass ball on the tabletop. Two chairs were on each side of the table. The blockhead pacing around suddenly stopped. She had her back facing Wendy.

"I take it you didn't want to tell them about us, didn't you?" The blockhead questioned.

Wendy crossed her arms. She dreaded coming to this room because of this blockhead. But why? What made Wendy dread coming here?

"That's not stuff they need to know," Wendy responded.

The blockhead had long black hair, was wearing a long purple dress, and was barefoot. She turned around to face Wendy. Her hands were behind her back.

"Mileena the mystical. Oscar the Powerful. Do they know that their prophecy is a lie? That there are no saviors to save us from Nora's reign of terror?" Mileena questioned.

"Not yet," Wendy said, "but they'll come around to that sooner or later."

"The only underlying question is….when?" Mileena said, "Nora's creation is nearing completion. Time is running out. Even if they do find the answers they seek, I fear it may be too late to save us. The OverWorld, I predict, is already doomed."

"Don't give up hope," Wendy said, "don't give up hope yet!"

Snowy Tundra Biome, OverWorld

Day

Distinct voices could be heard chatting. There was a blockhead sitting in a chair with his hands tied up behind him. His feet were also tied up. A single lantern hung over the chair. As the blockhead slowly awakened from being unconscious, he was confused as to where he was and what was happening.

Then, out of nowhere, Nora approached the blockhead sitting in the chair. His pants and shirt were torn and had holes in them. His hair was messy. He was cold and shivering.

"You're lucky to even be alive right now," Nora said.

The blockhead lifted his head and looked over at Nora. She was holding a book in her hand. There was someone else in the room with her, but he couldn't make out who it was.

"Found floating in the water unconscious. We had thought you had died during the battle. But somehow you survived. How is that?" Nora questioned.

"Who even—are you?" The blockhead questioned.

"I'm the one who saved your life," Nora said, "you could've been the sharks' next meal if we didn't pull you out of the water."

"What? Huh?" The blockhead said in a disorientated tone. He was breathing heavily. Looking around wasn't doing him much good. The dark made examining his surroundings very hard, "Where am I?"

"You're somewhere safe," Nora said as she opened her book and began flipping through a couple of pages. "Hmm, interesting."

"Why am I tied up? Why are you ignoring me?" The blockhead said.

"It says here in the book that your boat sank after exploding, is that right?" Nora asked.

"A boat sinking? Exploding? What is going on?" The blockhead said.

"Interesting. Very interesting," Nora mumbled to herself, "it says here that your name is Sedrick. After your boat sank, your fellow crew members perished. All except for you. Why is that?"

Sedrick shook his head. He growled, becoming frustrated with Nora. He was asking questions, but she wasn't answering them.

"I—I don't remember. I don't know. Where are my friends?" Sedrick asked, "are they safe? Are they okay?"

Nora slammed the book shut. She walked up to Sedrick and looked down at him. She faintly smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"You tell me," Nora said, "last I heard, they went off in search of answers."

"Answers about what?" Sedrick asked.

"Well the prophecy of course," Nora responded, "didn't you know? You and your friends are the saviors. The ones who will dethrone me and restore peace to the OverWorld. You, my friend, have a lot of catching up to do. A-lot's happened since the ocean battle."