Chapter 17: The End Dimension

[Jesse's POV]

(As the world around me comes into view as I finally leave the odd void between dimensions.)

(I crash land on a new surface I've never seen before.)

Jesse: "Ow... why does it always have to be so disorienting every time I get through one of these freaking portals."

(I recover from my previous landing as Lukas, Olivia, Reuben, and Petra come falling down as well.)

Jesse: "At least you guys made it through smoothly."

Petra: "Almost. smoothly." Right...

Lukas: "Oh. Great..."

(Lukas takes notice of the surroundings.)

Lukas: "It just keeps getting better..."

(We landed on some sort of big floating island in the middle of a black void, apparently.)

(The ground is made of, what I must assume to be, endstone from what I've read, and there were large obsidian pillars all over the place.)

(The black sky and lighting made it a little hard to see.)

Olivia: "Where's Axel?"

(She notices his absence.)

Olivia: "He was right behind me."

(At that right moment, a giant shadow casts over Lukas as Axel falls down on him... again... for the third time already.)

Jesse: "At this point, I'm not even surprised anymore."

(The amulet he was holding begins to roll away in my direction.)

(I pick it up.)

Axel: "I swear! I'm not doing this on purpose!"

Lukas: "Urgh... Get off..."

(Lukas pushes Axel away.)

(It started to feel like a routine at this point, but I went over anyway to make sure everything was alright.)

Lukas: "Ah! Oh jeez..."

(Lukas suddenly backs away while covering his face with his hands.)

Jesse: "What? Is something wrong?!"

Lukas: "What? No-! I mean, we've got..."

(Oh... right, I forgot where we ended up.)

Lukas: "Enderman..."

Axel: "Oh boy..."

(We instinctively look the other way.)

(I could almost hear their growls, or whatever those noises are supposed to be, behind my back.)

Olivia: "Hide!"

(We make a run towards the nearest obsidian pillar to hide behind.)

Lukas: "Welp, we found another Ender party..."

Axel: "Or a herd of Enderman, or a flock! a swarm! Oh! Or a 'Haunting!"

Jesse: "Meh... I think the first one is fine enough."

Olivia: "We might want to hold off on the grammar lessons until later. Which way are we headed, Jesse?"

(I take out the amulet, but it doesn't shine like it used to.)

Jesse: "Oh... right... these things don't work in the nether, so probably not in the end too."

Lukas: "Great. Whoo, man."

(Lukas laughs with a sarcastic tone.)

Lukas: "So we were trapped, aaaaand now we're lost. So, we go from, uh... a death machine, that almost drowned us... to here... In the END."

Jesse: "Don't think so negatively now; that's Olivia's job!"

Olivia: "Hey! I hate that I have to agree on that!"

Jesse: "Whatever, think about what we have, Lukas. Even without the amulet, we almost certainly know that Soren came through here. That would be the most logical explanation for why the amulet suddenly ceased to work back in the loot room. Unless there was a hidden nether portal somewhere back there but no one found one, aaand there wouldn't be a portal lying around only for you not to use it, so that's why I think Soren must be in here The end isn't that large. And Soren must've entered just a while ago. He can't have gone far! If we just search more clearly, we can find him easily!"

Axel: "What are you? A detective?"

Jesse: "I'm just thinking rationally."

(Axel looks at me.)

Jesse: "Okay fine, maybe I have read a few mystery novels, but that's not the point right now!"

Lukas: "Okay, if your theory is correct, then can you tell me where he is right now?"

Axel: "There he is!"

(Axel points towards the sky to an odd, big-looking staircase leading to an even bigger floating base, hovering over the island.)

(Wow... the dark base kinda blended in with the black sky.)

(I didn't even notice it till now.)

Lukas: "D-Did that just happen? I can't believe that just happened."

Jesse: "Welp, that's our next destination. To the staircase!"

Olivia: "Wait, how are we gonna go through that crowd of Enderman though?"

Petra: "Everyone, follow me!"

(Petra comes forward.)

Petra: "I'll get us to the other side! Just stay behind me and we'll- *cough*...we'll be fine!"

Jesse: "Petra... you know that won't be a good idea."

Lukas: "Yeah, I have to agree."

(Petra backs down with a disappointed look.)

Axel: "Soo... who's gonna go lead the way? Cuz' I'm definitely not going."

Lukas: "Urgh... We're just gonna waste time if we stay here. You know what? I'll just go."

(Lukas cuts the decision short.)

Jesse: "Are you sure?"

Lukas: "Just gimme a chance, Jesse."

(I wasn't actually doubting his skills, I was just worried if he'd be fine with such a dangerous job. But.)

Jesse: "If you want to, then go ahead. I don't think anyone else is coming forward."

(He nods with a satisfied look.)

Lukas: "Come on!"

(Lukas starts to lead us through the crowd of Enderman.)

Jesse: "Just make sure to keep your eyes on the ground as long as possible and only look up for short periods of time, okay?"

Olivia: "Yes, I know how Enderman work, Jesse."

Jesse: "Just making sure..."

(We trail behind Lukas.)

(I'm kind of used to walking with my head down, so it wasn't really a big deal.)

(I just had to make sure everyone stays together.)

(The Enderman seemed to be split into groups, so there was always room to walk past them, thankfully.)

(It was just now that I realized that this was the place where the legendary fight took place between the Order and the Ender Dragon.)

(It really would've been an amazing sight to see.)

(At the front, I could see Lukas stopping in front of something made out of bedrock.)

(It seemed that was where the Enderman party ended.)

Lukas: "Ok guys, there aren't any more threats beyond this point, at least I think."

Axel: "Good, having my spine bent down like that was a pain."

Petra: "Nice moves back there, Lukas."

Lukas: "Thanks, and you too, Jesse. Thanks for giving me a shot."

Jesse: "Ehhh, I'm just happy I'm not forced to do everything."

Lukas: "Umm... okay then..."

(Looking over to that structure I spotted earlier, it looked like another portal.)

(I guess that's going to be our ticket out of here.

(The only thing ahead was the bottom of the staircase.)

(Aaaaand it has to be a really long one.)

(Why couldn't Soren build his super base lower than the highest point of the sky?)

Axel: "Stairs... stairs... and more stairs... Did I forget to mention that climbing stairs is my third worst thing to do?"

Olivia: "You're not the only one."

Jesse: "Exercising... isn't really one of the things I like to do."

Olivia: "That's because all of your exercise is spent on sprinting way faster than you should."

Jesse: "Shush. That's just my walking speed. And no, you clearly haven't seen what kind of things I'm forced to do because of Reuben."

(Reuben kicks my leg.)

Jesse: "Ow!"

Petra: "Let's just *cough* go already."

Axel: "Are you sure you're fine? You've been coughing a lot lately."

Petra: "Are you doubting my strength?"

Axel: "No, no I'm not! I was just asking."

(I'm surprised she's still going with this.)

(Glancing at the others, it feels like everyone now knows that something's wrong.)

(Should I just outright say it? Or will that only make things worse? Argh... I don't know...)

(For now, I'll just have to make sure we're still moving.)

(At least that way, we might actually find something that can help.)

(Wither Sickness usually goes away after a while, but Petra's is just getting worse.)

(In the worst case scenario, it might actually only go away completely after the creature is dead.)

(I had to get the others to continue going.)

Jesse: "Let's just go up and meet Soren already. It's the best shot we have right now."

(The mood had gone dark again.)

(And just as I thought things were finally going up.)

(We start climbing the long stairs upwards.)

(There weren't even railings.)

(Soren must not have had other people using this in mind.)

Axel: "I hope that someday I'll love something as much as Soren seems to

love stairs."

(We reach some sort of midway platform, but it just keeps going further.)

(Why would you do this, Soren...)

(I look back to see Petra falling behind on everyone.)

(She's still going, despite constantly clutching her infected arm and appearing to pass out at any moment.)

Petra: "Jesse, can you give me a sec?"

Jesse: "Need a hand?"

Petra: "No, no. I can manage, thanks. Just need to catch a breath..."

Jesse: "..."

Petra: "Ok... we can keep moving."

(Okay then... Catching up to the others, I see Axel, Olivia and Reuben lying on the floor, run out of energy by-)

Olivia: "So... many... stairs..."

Jesse: "I can see a ladder."

(We were almost at the top.)

(Just a dozen steps more till we reach a ladder that goes into the base.)

Jesse: "We almost made it..."

Axel: "It better not be a long one."

Olivia: "My legs are already tired. I don't want my arms to give up too."

Jesse: "Here goes nothing."

(I said I wouldn't want to go first again, but being this tired, I was only able to imagine that whatever is up there had to be something good.)

(Thankfully, the ladder wasn't long.)

(It goes up a hole where the walls suspiciously turn from obsidian to something green.)

(There was a trap door at the top.)

(I open it and throw myself up into the soft ground inside.)

Lukas: "What do you see, Jesse?"

(The others yell from the ladder.)

Petra: "Please don't say more stairs..."

Jesse: "No... I don't think it goes uphill anymore..."

Axel: "Thank you Soren..."

(When I finally took a moment to take in my surroundings, I just started to notice how bizarre this new room looked.)

(The walls were light blue with white spots that looked like clouds.)

(There was some sort of 2D-mountain on the far side and there were trees everywhere and some small mushrooms too.)

(There was even a river.)

(And a bright light came from the ceiling that must have represented a sun of some kind.)

(And in the distance, I could see... replicas of mobs and animals?)

(It looked like a plain biome with trees and mountains in the background.)

(The only thing off, though, is that everything looks like it's made out of... wool?)

(felt the ground. It was soft wool.)

(Everything except the water was made of wool.)

Jesse: "It's like another world up here. A brand-new, unspoiled one made of wool?"

Lukas: "So bright..."

(The others have a hard time taking in the brightness in comparison to the dark island below us.)

(I start heading down the artificial hill to explore this place.)

(Behind me, I could hear Axel tripping and falling down, followed by Lukas's scream and hitting the ground.)

Lukas: "UOH."

(Fourth time...)

Lukas: "That's my body, Axel. My broken, battered body..."

Axel: "Sorry..."

(Axel picks up Lukas from the floor.)

Axel: "Okay, we might have had a rocky start, but I'm assurring you, I'm cool now. It's not like I have any grudges anymore!"

Lukas: "You're saying that AFTER you almost broke my bones FOUR TIMES???"

Axel: "What? That's how Griefers befriend people."

(Lukas immediately backs away.)

Jesse: "At least the wool floor made a softer landing."

Olivia: "Hold on... so that's the squishy carpet like floor."

Axel: "Astonishing! This tree... the grass... it's all... wool!"

Lukas: "So you're telling me, we've been resting all our hopes on this guy, and the whole time he's been building some... totally artificial Happyland?!"

(I'd never seen Lukas get mad, so it kind of surprised me.)

Axel: "Well, it's real wool."

Lukas: "It's real evidence that Soren is whacked."

Jesse: "I guess after all this time to himself, Soren might have gone a little... off..."

Lukas: " 'A little' is being generous."

Petra: "It kinda makes sense. The other members of the Order haven't exactly been... all there."

Lukas: "Urgh!"

(Lukas grabs a piece of wool and throws it to the floor.)

Lukas: "We came here for NOTHING!"

Jesse: "Lukas... calm down... we-"

Lukas: "What are we even supposed to do now?!"

Jesse: "We came here for Soren. That's still the plan, right?"

Lukas: "Just look around, Jesse! If the greatest builder of all time has spent YEARS working on THIS, what are the chances he'll even HAVE that bomb, HUH?"

(Lukas storms off away from everyone.)

Lukas: "I had ENOUGH crazy for one day!"

(I was about to say something back but stopped myself.)

Jesse: "sigh".

(And just'when things were even remotely hopeful...)

(I feel kind of embarrassed that I couldn't keep everyone together, and more importantly, how Lukas ended up now. *sigh*)

Petra: "What's his problem? He seemed pretty upset..."

Axel: "Idk... maybe he's allergic to wool?"

Jesse: "Just... give Lukas some space. He'll be okay. We've all been a little on edge ever since this Wither Storm thing came."

Olivia: "I understand. But Lukas was right. Soren's not here, so what should we do now?"

Jesse: "He's got to be somewhere. That base from the outside looked way bigger than just this room. There has to be some way to access that other part of his base."

Petra: "Well, Soren's the greatest builder of all time. If anybody knew how to put in the secret-est of secret doors, it would be him."

Jesse: "I guess it's time to split up and search this dang place."

Axel: "Understood."

(We split up, with Olivia and Axel searching in one direction, and me, Reuben, and Petra in the other.)

Jesse: "You doing okay, buddy?"

(I check up on Reuben.)

(He responds with a joyful grunt.)

(I guess it's good that at least someone is doing okay.)

Jesse: "Hm?"

(Reuben is holding his leg up.)

Jesse: "Do you want a high-five?"

(Reuben nods.)

(I high- fived him.)

(Woah, that felt oddly satisfying. I turn over to Petra.)

Jesse: "So, on a scale of 0 to 100, how bad are you feeling?"

Petra: "Somewhere in between. But... I'm holding on, for now."

Jesse: "Alright then. Say, have you seen anything weirder than this place?"

Petra: "Actually... yeah. I once saw a villager dig a huge trench and fill it with, like, a million carrots."

Jesse: "What? Why?"

Petra: "I don't know. If I ever find him again, I might ask."

Jesse: "Weird."

(Petra stops for a moment to lean on a nearby tree.)

Petra: "Urgh... freaking 'whatever wither is even made of'..."

Jesse: "Need a break?"

Petra: "I guess."

Jesse: "Wait, actually, I think you found something!"

Petra: "What are you talking about? I just sat down."

Jesse: "Behind the tree."

(was a lever sitting in plain sight.)

(I flick it to see what happens. Suddenly, one of the clouds starts to light up, but only one third of it.)

Jesse: "Of course it's a puzzle. I'm guessing there are 2 more, huh?"

Petra: "Seems like it."

Jesse: "Well, I'm gonna look around more and you can just rest here."

(I leave Petra to rest while I head back.)

Jesse: "Reuben, can you tell the others about the discovery?"

(Reuben makes an 'I guess?' face before walking away.)

(Now, where did Lukas storm off to? I spot him leaning on a tree on the other side of the room, past the small river where a small bridge is located.)

(Some time has passed already.)

(I want to talk to him, but I'm worried if it's the wrong time or not.)

(Tsk. Why is being social such a hard thing to do, or am I the only one thinking this way?)

(Urgh... I have to approach him eventually.)

(Should I wait longer? Urgh, why am I suddenly so self-conscious about this? Whatever, I have an excuse.)

(I'm just gonna have to go for it...)

(Meanwhile on the other side of the room with.)

[Olivia's POV]

Olivia: "Hey, Axel! I found something!"

Axel: "What? What?"

(There's a lone button on the side of the wool wall.)

Olivia: "Let's press it."

Axel: "Idk, it could be a trap. Aren't you usually the one being cautious?"

Olivia: "It's a button! I have to press it!"

(I activate it, but nothing happens. even after several attempts.)

Olivia: "Well, that's a disappointment..."

Axel: "Maybe we're missing something..."

Olivia: "Makes sense."

(Suddenly, Reuben comes towards us.)

Olivia: "What is it, Reuben?"

(Reuben starts squealing random things.)

Olivia: "Umm... sorry, I don't understand Pig language."

(Reuben looks at me angrily.)

Axel: "Olivia, you're thinking wrong. If you want to understand pig-ish, you need to think like a pig!"

Olivia: "Seriously?"

(Reuben starts sniffing around.)

(It seems he wants to find something.)

Olivia: "Look Reuben, there aren't any carrots around here. I'm sorry."

Axel: "That's awesome! You found a lever!"

Olivia: "Wait, what?"

(Reuben had managed to find a lever behind one of the trees.)

Axel: "High-five, Reuben!"

(Axel and Reuben jump up to high-five.)

Olivia: "Are you gonna flick the lever or continue doing that?"

Axel: "Calm down, we're just having fun."

(Axel flicks the lever.)

(A cloud on the;wall suddenly starts glowing, but only two thirds of it.)

Olivia: "Oh... it's a puzzle."

Axel: "Isn't that good? I LOVE puzzles!"

Olivia: "Excited much? I'm guessing we still need to light up the last third of that cloud, with a third lever I assume? And that button probably only works when all of the levers are activated. I hope Jesse and the others have that covered."

Axel: "By the way, now that you mention the button... do you hear that?"

Olivia: "Hear what? I hope you're not starting to hear things."

Axel: "No, put your ear on the wall beside it and listen." Doing as told, I am starting to hear something from the other side.

Olivia: "I can hear... music? or something?"

Axel: "Exactly! Weird right?"

Olivia: "Well, it definitely sounds like there's a base behind this wall."

Axel: "Let's break it down!"

Olivia: "Axel... your hand almost died when digging that other hole and not with these tired arms. Plus, the others are probably already on their way to activate the last lever."

Axel: "Fine... I guess no destruction this time."

Olivia: "Oh well, let's just wait until they're done..."

(Back to [Jesse's POV])

Lukas: "What do you want?"

Jesse: "We're worried about you, okay?"

(I more or less cut straight to the point.)

(That way, there would be as few misunderstandings as possible.)

(Lukas sighs deeply, his face turning from annoyed to more like feeling down.)

Lukas: "Okay, listen, I know I've been prickly, okay? But... Jesse..."

(Lukas. points to Petra, who's resting over on the other side.)

Lukas: "I think... something's wrong... with Petra. You have to have noticed."

(And that's the exact question I didn't want to hear the most. )

Jesse: " *sigh* It's complicated. She told me not to say anything but..."

(Oh crap, I already accidentally said something I shouldn't have.)

(Lukas's suspicions rise.)

Lukas: "What are you talking about? What's going on between you two?! Now you have to tell me!"

(Oh great, what should I do?)

[To be continued...]