"Char? Hey, what's going on?" Michael walked into the living room, surprised to see her with her face in her hands. He sat beside her on the squishy couch. "Tell me what's up."
"I'm just stressed," Charlotte said, sighing and lifting her head.
"Just stressed doesn't mean crying for you." Michael squeezed her hand sympathetically. "Is this about-?
"Yeah. I don't think we'll be able to make it through the month on Welfare. An' I can't seem to find a job anywhere that wants to hire me an'..." she sighed again, placing her head back in her hands. "I'm not gonna make it, Mike." Michael patted her gently on the back.
"Now that's a lie," he said. "Of course you're going to make it. You have me here, and I sure as hell won't let you three starve."
"We might be getting evicted from our home." Charlotte stressed.
"Then live with me for as long as you need. I have quite a bit of savings, and I'm sure I can help you find work. As for them, they'll be ecstatic to have a 'sleepover', right?"
"I suppose..." Charlotte agreed uncertainly. She lifted her head again. "But it would be a great strain on you, Mike."
"Not at all," he said with a smile. "Don't forget that you're not alone anymore. We can build each other up this time, okay?" Charlotte cracked a grin.
"Fine. You have me convinced, at least for a while."
The last that remained of Charlotte had dissipated into the air, and the remaining stood and let the grief wash over them. Michael was still on the ground, shaking uncontrollably. Steve hesitantly approached him, laying a cubed stub on his shoulder.
"Come on, Michael. We need to finish this. We're almost halwa-"
"No," Michael interrupted, staring at the ground. "We never should have come here. It's my fault that we even pursued this stupid 'quest'. It's my fault that we traveled all this way. It's my fault that Char..." He buried his head in his knees. "There is no fight. All we can wait for is to die peacefully." A stunned silence befell the entire group. Michael had never spoken like this before. Ami watched the entire scene play out, unable to do a thing. She gasped when she saw Steve's arm come down on Michael, smacking him upside the head.
"Ow!" Michael recoiled. "What was that for?!"
"To snap you out of it," Steve explained with a tone of annoyance. "We came all this way for a reason. It would be idiotic to quit now, so get up." Michael reluctantly obeyed, wiping the tears from his eyes. "We're so close," Steve continued. "so let's kill this thing."
"For her," Michael muttered to himself before addressing the group. "A-Alright...there are only a couple healing stations left. If each of us heads to one, we can take them all out." With that said, he turned on his heel and darted towards the next pillar. A couple exchanged glances circulated around the rest, but it was only for a moment before they all darted to another pillar.
The Ender Dragon circled above, flying to one of its healing stations and roaring. A beam of light streamed from it, healing the dragon completely within seconds. Ami cursed to herself, knowing that her snowball truly didn't have an effect this time around. Or, any time at all. She dashed to the last pillar that was unoccupied and began to build up to it just like before. The Dragon busied itself with flying around the room, seeming to ignore the people destroying its source of healing. With a shock of horror, Ami realized that the Dragon was simply gaining momentum, flying full speed towards Izzy, who scrambled to take out her bow, shooting it and just barely avoiding certain death. Ami breathed out a sigh of relief, continuing her upward scale.
Without much trouble this time around, Ami made it to the top, breaking down the iron bars that protected the gem within. Bracing herself for the impact, she threw another snowball, the BAM startling her, but not forcing her to lose her footing. In succession, the last three towers suffered the same explosion, and with an inner cheer, Ami knew that all of the Dragon's healing stations were destroyed. She made her way down avoiding attack; the Ender Dragon was fiercely roaring above, aware that it was on its last legs.
"We did it!" Ami rejoiced when the group had come together again.
"Not all of it," Izzy reminded her. "But we sure came a long way...what now, Michael?" They all turned to him. The lines under his eyes were clear as day, the grief as present as the sun on a hot day. But he looked at them with determination.
"Now we attack. Stick with ranged weapons for the most part, only use your sword if you're in close combat!" He pulled out his bow, firing an arrow at the Dragon above. The first one missed, but the second one hit, causing an ear-piercing shriek to almost blow their eardrums off. The Dragon's eyes glowed a misty and violent purple, as he now flew down to the ground, a blaze present around his jaw.
"Get out of the way!" Ami called, just as the Dragon unleashed a fury of acidic fire that narrowly missed her, grazing her shoulder. The small part where it hit stung worse than any rash or infection could have. Steve had avoided damage, thanks to Ami.
"Thanks," he breathed. Ami nodded at him, firing another arrow at the Dragon. As she unleashed her last arrow, a horrid realization came across to her.
"I'm out of arrows!" she panicked.
"I only have ten myself..." Michael glared at the ground.
"I'm out as well..." Izzy said slowly.
"Just throw any snowballs you have left!" Steve shouted. "They'll work better than you think!" Ami blinked, the memory of the last time she threw a snowball at the Dragon resurfacing. It did seem to hurt him, even if it was only a little bit. She didn't have time to question it now. The snowball left her hand, hitting the Dragon squarely in the face. Nice shot, she thought to herself.
The Dragon had been beaten down quite a bit now, and it must have been wiser than Ami thought, for it took off into the sky, a little wobbly. It geared up for another flying attack, targeting Izzy. She prepared herself, all out of snowballs and grabbing her sword. The Dragon swooped in, and Izzy slashed at it, getting a great gash to appear on the side of its face, but getting knocked down herself. The Dragon screamed in agony, flying away again.
"Izzy! Are you okay?!" Ami ran to her. Izzy opened her eyes, a little winded by the fall.
"I'm fine," she said, blinking and staring ahead. It was with a great fear that she noticed two violet eyes staring back. Her heart pounded as she sprang up from the ground, the eyes of an Enderman locked with hers. It approached, an evil intent in its eyes.
"G-G-G-Guys!" She quivered in her spot, terrified and unable to look away. The Enderman raised its arm, striking down. And then it turned to smoke. Izzy opened her eyes again, having shut them tight out of fear. Steve stood between her and the Endermen, which now had all turned in his direction.
"Go," he said. "Take care of the Dragon; I'll keep them away from you."
"But Steve-"
"I'll come back. You won't. Go." Izzy hesitantly backed away, running towards the rest of the group as Steve bolted into the herd of Endermen, which all followed him. He slashed every way he could, fending them off quite well. Ami couldn't help but stare, amazed.
"Ami, come on! We need to go." Michael grabbed her, snapping her out of it. Ami complied, turning and facing the Ender Dragon, which blew flames in Izzy's direction. She dove to avoid them, the Dragon approaching closer. Michael darted towards the dragon, dropping his worthless bow, as now he had ran out of arrows as well, and hacking at it with his sword. The Dragon knocked him away like he was made of paper. Ami tried attacking with Michael as well, but was only knocked down as the Dragon sought to destroy Izzy.
Izzy held up her sword defensively. She wasn't going to die like this. Her friends were doing all they could, but it was up to her to finish this once and for all. Izzy yelled, running to the Dragon's gleaming eyes, its jaw seeming to grin evilly. She struck him, but as she tried to strike again, the Dragon's jaws opened.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1J0UzmQm2
Ami screamed, the jaws seeming to come deliberately. She ran to the Dragon, but not fast enough. Izzy made a final effort, stabbing her sword through the Dragon's mouth, but was horrified when she saw her sword break in half. Izzy's eyes grew wide with terror as her mouth opened to scream.
It was unfortunate that she never got the chance. The Dragon's jaw snapped down on her, blood oozing from her legs that still dangled out of the Dragon's mouth, motionless. The Dragon swallowed her whole, turning its gleaming eyes to the two that remained, as if to say 'Try me'. Ami and Michael stood in a dumbfounded silence, their mouths agape and swords shaking.
From afar, they heard the last scream of Steve, who had finally succumbed to the overwhelming amount of Endermen. The Endermen looked quite peaceful once he was gone, returning to their previous ways. Michael looked to Ami, and Ami to Michael. They knew with a simply glance to each other that they were the only ones left. The Dragon roared, taking off into the sky again, seeming to celebrate his kill.
"I have a plan," Michael said suddenly, keeping his eyes on the dragon. Ami looked at him. He appeared as though he would soon vomit.
"Lay it on me," she said, willing to hear any other option.
"The Dragon's preparing for another swooping attack," he said. "My plan is to let him swoop down, then I'll jump and mount him, getting as many slashes in as I can. He'll be distracted with me so much that you can get a clean shot in and end it."
"But what if-"
"I don't have much of a reason to live anymore," he said with a painful smile. "Nor do I have a reason to die. I'm stuck in a limbo. The least I can do is utilize myself for something that will save the life of another."
"But I don't want to be alone!" Ami cried.
"You won't. I'm sure...I'm sure that there's someone waiting for you on the other side of this. In reality. I don't think I really have anyone, honestly. It's the least I can do for all that we've been through."
"No," Ami stressed, beginning to hyperventilate. "No, I can't let you go through with this!"
"What other choice do we have? Wait for it to kill us?!" Michael pointed at the Dragon. "I know that this is a stupid plan - but it's all we got! So please, Ami. Please. Let me do this." Ami couldn't stop the tears from flowing out her eyes. She sobbed, nodding her head. Michael breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Okay. Wait for him to come down, and as soon as I'm on him, go for the kill." Ami wiped her eyes, coughing and nodding again.
"Okay. I'm sorry, Michael."
"Sorry?"
"For all this. For Charlotte, for Izzy, for Aiden and Jack. Even Luke, for crying out loud! A-And Rufus...there's just been so much crap you've had to go through. You don't deserve any of it." Michael smiled, patting her on the head.
"I can't control the crazy things life throws at me," he said. "but I can certainly devise something to get through it." He turned to face the Dragon again as it approached in for another kill. He braced himself, sword at the ready. Ami prepared herself as well, definitely not ready for what was about to come.
The Dragon thundered upon the ground, wobbling the two, but Michael held strong and darted to the Dragon, avoiding it's throws and gaping jaws, and miraculously getting atop its back. He began to slash his sword like never before, black blood oozing from the wounds he made on the Dragon. The Dragon, in return, screeched and thrashed like wildfire, doing everything in its power to try and knock the person on its back. It was so busy with Michael that it didn't notice Ami closing in for the final shot. The Dragon created a blaze at its lips again, its head facing towards Michael, who glared at it with daring ambition. He stabbed the beast once more, and then the flames reached him.
Ami slashed at the Dragon's neck with startling precision and power. The Dragon's head toppled to the ground, ivory blood dripping from the cut. Michael fell off the back of the Dragon, his body burnt and charred. There was a brilliant light that erupted from the Dragon, and Ami quickly grabbed Michael and dragged him away from the decaying creature. Streams of angelic white light burst from the inside of the Dragon, as the rest of its body began to turn into smoke. The light began to turn purple as well, and what sounded like fireworks came from the body. In a brilliant show of light and explosions, the Dragon soon became nothing more than the air that they breathed.
"We did it," Ami couldn't believe it herself. She looked down to Michael, who was on his last legs. His glasses, once rigid and official in frame, were now crooked and shattered. His entire body was covered in burns, and his clothes were singed beyond repair.
"We did." Michael smiled, resting his head on the ground and looking to the sky.
"Is there any way I could heal you? You must have brought some healing potions, or..."
"No, I didn't." Michael forced out a laugh. "We didn't have enough resources to make them, believe it or not. I don't know why I didn't just wait until we did...it was stupid of me. Reckless." Ami lowered her eyes to the ground, frowning.
"Do I have to leave you, too?" she asked miserably.
"Unfortunately so. I don't have anything left." He coughed, and stopped as he saw his legs. "Ah," he commented. "Looks like I gotta go." Ami felt her already wet eyes well up with tears again. Michael's legs were gone, and all that remained was his quickly disappearing torso. "Tell me what it's like out there when you see it, okay?" He looked at her with soft, brown eyes.
"Of course," Ami said, the tears rolling off her cheeks as Michael finally disappeared into smoke for good. She remained on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, her screams heard by no one. Ami was all alone now. All of her friends were dead. She watched the droplets of her tears splatter on the rock, getting to her feet slowly and shakily. She turned to where a fountain-like object was. She stepped up to it, her feet dragging along the way, and noticed that instead of water, the same, toxic murk that brought her into The End was swirling in this path to reality.
Ami wasn't even sure she wanted to go into it. Her friends were dead. Dead. Gone from the world, forever. She was alone. Nobody could hold her hand, or tell her that it would be alright. Because it would never be alright. But she felt that she had a duty to fulfill. Of course she wanted to see if there was any family waiting for her; and then travel the real world and document all of it so that she never forgot what she worked for...it was all optimistic thinking. A thought she didn't really want a part of. The happy part of her soul had shriveled up and died, and all that was left was an agonizing sadness. But she still stepped up to the murky substance, and still jumped into it, feeling her body go weightless.
However, her travel wasn't as fast as anticipated. She opened her eyes, and found herself falling into a white sea. It was as though she were swimming, except air came to her naturally. The entire space was rather empty, aside from two voices that circulated around her.
I see the player you mean.
Ami?
Yes. Take care. It has reached a higher level now. It can read our thoughts.
Ami blinked, searching around for a source to the voice. But there was nobody there. The first voice that had spoken sounded very intellectual, a little higher pitched than the second. The second continued on, its slightly lower voice in a more playful manner.
That doesn't matter. It thinks we are part of the game.
I like this player. It played well. It did not give up.
It is reading our thoughts as though they were voices speaking to them.
That is how it chooses to imagine many things, when it is deep in the dream of a game.
"A game?" Ami wondered aloud. Her question was not answered, however, as the voices continued on.
Words make a wonderful interface. Very flexible. And less terrifying than staring at the reality behind the voice.
They used to hear voices. Before players could read. Back in the days when those who did not play called the players witches, and warlocks. And players dreamed they flew through the air, on sticks powered by demons.
What did this player dream?
This player dreamed of sunlight and trees. Of fire and water. It dreamed it created. And it dreamed it destroyed. It dreamed it hunted, and was hunted. It dreamed of shelter.
Ami began to have flashes appear before her of her life that she remembered. She saw her first day, when she first appeared in the world in a bushy forest that was so full of promise. She remembered breaking down mass amounts of trees all in one day with Jack, and somehow not giving themselves enough time to build a shelter. She remembered stargazing with him, and being ambushed by the creeper. Ami remembered finding Michael and pleading with him for help. They gave her a home and family.
Hah, the original interface. A million years old, and it still works. But what true structure did this player create, in the reality behind the screen?
It worked, with a million others, to sculpt a true world in a fold of the -, and created a - for - in the -.
The words seemed to glitch out so badly that Ami couldn't understand them at all.
It cannot read that thought.
No. It has not yet achieved the highest level. That, it must achieve in the long dream of life, not the short dream of a game.
Does it know that we love it? That the universe is kind?
Sometimes, through the noise of its thoughts, it hears the universe, yes.
But there are times it is sad, in the long dream. It creates worlds that have no summer, and it shivers under a black sun, and it takes its sad creation for reality.
To cure it of sorrow would destroy it. The sorrow is part of its own private task. We cannot interfere.
Ami felt a twang in her heart as she remembered those who were lost.
Sometimes when they are deep in dreams, I want to tell them, they are building true worlds in reality. Sometimes I want to tell them of their importance to the universe. Sometimes, when they have not made a true connection in a while, I want to help them to speak the word they fear.
It reads our thoughts.
Sometimes I do not care. Sometimes I wish to tell them, this world you take for truth is merely - and -, I wish to tell them that they are - in the -. They see so little of reality, in their long dream.
And yet they play the game.
But it would be so easy to tell them...
Too strong for this dream. To tell them how to live is to prevent them living.
I will not tell the player how to live.
The player is growing restless.
I will tell the player a story.
But not the truth.
No. A story that contains the truth safely, in a cage of words. Not the naked truth that can burn over any distance.
Give it a body, again.
Yes. Player...
Use its name.
Ami. Player of games.
Good.
Ami blinked, listening intently to the voices, and following their commands for reasons she didn't understand.
Take a breath, now. Take another. Feel air in your lungs. Let your limbs return. Yes, move your fingers. Have a body again, under gravity, in air. Respawn in the long dream. There you are. Your body touching the universe again at every point, as though you were separate things. As though we were separate things.
Who are we? Once we were called the spirit of the mountain. Father sun, mother moon. Ancestral spirits, animal spirits. Jinn. Ghosts. The green man. Then gods, demons. Angels. Poltergeists. Aliens, extraterrestrials. Leptons, quarks. The words change. We do not change.
We are the universe. We are everything you think isn't you. You are looking at us now, through your skin and your eyes. And why does the universe touch your skin, and throw light on you? To see you, player. To know you. And to be known. I shall tell you a story.
Once upon a time, there was a player.
The player was you, Ami.
Ami felt a light shine within herself. This all felt so odd, like it couldn't be happening.
Sometimes it thought itself human, on the thin crust of a spinning globe of molten rock. The ball of molten rock circled a ball of blazing gas that was three hundred and thirty thousand times more massive than it. They were so far apart that light took eight minutes to cross the gap. The light was information from a star, and it could burn your skin from a hundred and fifty million kilometers away.
Sometimes the player dreamed it was a miner, on the surface of a world that was flat, and infinite. The sun was a square of white. The days were short; there was much to do; and death was a temporary inconvenience.
Sometimes the player dreamed it was lost in a story.
Sometimes the player dreamed it was other things, in other places. Sometimes these dreams were disturbing. Sometimes very beautiful indeed. Sometimes the player woke from one dream into another, then woke from that into a third.
Sometimes the player dreamed it heard voices from nowhere.
Let's go back.
The atoms of the player were scattered in the grass, in the rivers, in the air, in the ground. A woman gathered the atoms; she drank and ate and inhaled; and the woman assembled the player, in her body.
And the player awoke, from the warm, dark world of its mother's body, into the long dream.
And the player was a new story, never told before, written in letters of DNA. And the player was a new program, never run before, generated by a sourcecode a billion years old. And the player was a new human, never alive before, made from nothing but milk and love.
You are the player. The story. The program. The human. Made from nothing but milk and love.
Let's go further back.
The seven billion billion billion atoms of the player's body were created, long before this game, in the heart of a star. So the player, too, is information from a star. And the player moves through a story, which is a forest of information planted by a man called Julian, on a flat, infinite world created by a man called Markus, that exists inside a small, private world created by the player, who inhabits a universe created by...
Shush. Sometimes the player created a small, private world that was soft and warm and simple. Sometimes hard, and cold, and complicated. Sometimes it built a model of the universe in its head; flecks of energy, moving through vast empty spaces. Sometimes it called those flecks "electrons" and "protons".
Sometimes it called them "planets" and "stars".
Sometimes it believed it was in a universe that was made of energy that was made of offs and ons; zeros and ones; lines of code. Sometimes it believed it was playing a game. Sometimes it believed it was reading words on a screen.
You are the player, reading words...
Shush... Sometimes the player read lines of code on a screen. Decoded them into words; decoded words into meaning; decoded meaning into feelings, emotions, theories, ideas, and the player started to breathe faster and deeper and realized it was alive, it was alive, those thousand deaths had not been real, the player was alive.
You. You. You are alive.
and sometimes the player believed the universe had spoken to it through the sunlight that came through the shuffling leaves of the summer trees
and sometimes the player believed the universe had spoken to it through the light that fell from the crisp night sky of winter, where a fleck of light in the corner of the player's eye might be a star a million times as massive as the sun, boiling its planets to plasma in order to be visible for a moment to the player, walking home at the far side of the universe, suddenly smelling food, almost at the familiar door, about to dream again
and sometimes the player believed the universe had spoken to it through the zeros and ones, through the electricity of the world, through the scrolling words on a screen at the end of a dream
and the universe said I love you
and the universe said you have played the game well
and the universe said everything you need is within you
and the universe said you are stronger than you know
and the universe said you are the daylight
and the universe said you are the night
and the universe said the darkness you fight is within you
and the universe said the light you seek is within you
and the universe said you are not alone
and the universe said you are not separate from every other thing
and the universe said you are the universe tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own code
and the universe said I love you because you are love.
And the game was over and the player woke up from the dream. And the player began a new dream. And the player dreamed again, dreamed better. And the player was the universe. And the player was love.
You are the player.
Wake up.
As if her body had transformed into a brick, Ami felt herself falling at an incredible speed. She barely had any time to comprehend what had just happened before she saw a stiff, white ground coming towards her. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out as she crashed into the ground below.
Gasping, her body lurching up, she panted heavily; hand over her heart and her senses beginning to come back. First, she was able to feel that she was on a bed. A very comfortable bed. It reminded her of the ones she was used to...and then she could smell the scent of wood in the air. How odd. Maybe there was a fire burning? But no such scent came. Lastly, she opened her eyes. And she saw pure horror. The room that was before her eyes was not like a hospital, or somewhere foreign. It was the bedroom of the Sky House.
The seven beds circled the pillar that lead to the roof, the flowers all bloomed beautifully. All was well within the house, but everything in Ami was pounding against her mind for release. She saw the familiarity and screamed, crying and running around the house, trying to find some way that it could all be wrong. But it wasn't. She was stuck in the realm of Minecraft. And there was no way out.
She had built herself a new room. One where no one would ever bother her again. Steve, who had regenerated in the world as well, came over several times after he had discovered her; disheveled and in mental agony, trying to calm her down and get her to change her mind. But she had made a decision. For the rest of her days, she would lock herself up where no other person could ever hurt her.
She brandished herself a new name, a name that wouldn't tie her down to the past she so desperately hated. She never had to look back again, for her new name was Alex. Alex decided she would keep to herself for the rest of her life. There was no use in seeking contact; it would only end in pain. She withdrew, closing the door and never looking back.
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