Withering Heights- Part 2: Tension Rising

(If you have not already read it, please read Part 1 first)
Note: As well as content from Minecraft, this story may contain references to Fortnite and other games.
===Chapter 1: A New Enemy===
"I hear there's some trouble going on up north."
"Yes, yes. Something about some other dimension. I hear they're having to evacuate some of the villages."
"This could be our chance! Our chance to leave this stupid place and maybe start some cities of our own."
"It's probably just that man Steve messing around with them again. We are perfectly fine here, and there is no reason to leave and try to take more land!"
"Well, what if Steve decides to come for us! Then what?"
"Exactly. If we can't fend off one stupid boy, we can't expect to be able to take over a whole village!"
Jessica listened as the two Evokers argued. She had heard the news too. Some invasion from another dimension. She crept closer, but they were still just yelling at each other over the same things. 
She jumped back when a third Evoker came in to the room, joining in to the argument. 
"He's right. We can't just stay here, oblivious to what is going on around us. This is our chance! We can join some of the others who have also been waiting for so, so, long, and take them out when they're weakened!"
"I suppose you could be right. But there are many others to convince. And are you sure those pillagers would want to make an alliance with us? They probably would give the same argument as me!"
"Well they are the ones who have actually been waiting," the third Evoker said. "We've just been sitting here in this mansion, ignoring everything that happens around us. Come on, let's get the others."
Jessica jumped back and ran down the stairs as the three Evokers came out of the room. She ran back down another flight of stairs, and then stood perfectly still, doing what she was supposed to have been doing. 
She heard some footsteps, and the Evokers came down, probably looking to convince the others.
Well, that second guy gave up pretty quickly, she thought as they started talking to one of the other vindicators. He seemed to agree, and pointed out a window to... the outpost?
Yes, the outpost. They wanted to make an alliance with the pillagers. 
Good luck with that, Jessica thought as she walked down the hallway, opening the door to the Woodland Mansion and shutting it quietly behind her.
===Chapter 2: Such Luck===
Very close by, a villager woke up near a lake. His name... his name... was... Pete? Yes, his name was Pete. Pete woke up in... in a... forest? Oak forest? Dark Oak forest. Pete woke up near a lake in a Dark Oak forest. That was all the villager remembered. Well, he also remembered that he was a villager. A villager from... where? Pete didn’t remember. He didn’t even remember why he had woken up near a lake in a Dark Oak forest. So he did the only thing that felt natural. He snapped some branches off a tree, and started to shape it. Soon, he had a small wooden axe, which he used to get more wood, until he had a larger axe, a small pickaxe, and a sword. Pete cut more wood, and used his axe to shape it. He sit down with a shovel, and reached stone, which he broke with his pickaxe. By sunset, he had stone tools. But Pete then remembered something. He remembered that nighttime was dangerous, but didn’t know why. But he listened to his instincts, and walked around, trying to find a place to take shelter.
A moment late, Pete stumbled upon what looked like an entire mansion! Such luck, he thought, opening the door and walking inside. He knew that dark places were not safe at night, so stayed in places with torches. But then Pete remembered something else. Something... about the mansion? Was it dangerous?
Pete got his answer when he heard footsteps, and saw two gray figures coming at him with axes. He ran down the hall, out of the mansion, and slammed the door shut behind him. But it flung open, and the two... pillagers? Ravagers? Whatever they were, they grabbed him, and dragged him inside.
“You’re one of them, right?” It asked. “A villager? How did you get here?”
“I- I don’t know,” Pete said truthfully. “I don‘t know how I got here.”
“Tell us. How did you get here and what are you doing here?”
“I woke up somewhere near here,” he stammered. “I remembered that night was dangerous, so I came in here when I found it.”
“He’s not saying anything,” one of the strange people said. “Lock him up and we’ll come back to him tomorrow. He could have valuable information.”
So Pete was dragged away, locked up, and left there to wonder how he really did get there.
=== Chapter 3: The Aftermath ===
A day before Pete had woken up in the Dark Oak forest, Steve found himself in a piglin bastion. He was lying on the floor in what seemed to be a small hospital, as he saw several wounded piglins being tended to. Steve looked down in himself, and saw a large gash on his leg, probably from the explosion. He lay back down and fell back asleep, trying not to wonder what had happened to Pete, Bert, and all the other piglins.
A few hours later, Steve woke up again. This time, he sat straight up, and looked around a bit more. He was in a sort of bastion that had been transformed into a hospital, and saw piglins lying on the floor, most asleep.
“Where am I?” He asked, still not 100 percent sure. “Where are Pete and Bert?”
One person saw Steve’s distress, and walked over. “Bert is alive, but might not be able to walk anymore. Pete... well, we haven’t seen him.”
“What do you mean you haven’t seen him?” Steve asked the piglin. “I mean, he‘s not here with the rest of us,” the the doctor answered.
You mean... he’s dead? Steve thought, not saying it out loud. Could he be?
So he went back to sleep again, this time very worried.
=== Chapter 4: Village and Pillage ===
The Pillager Outpost was on the edge of the Dark Oak forest, and was one Steve had not found, so it looked just as it was supposed to. Jessica put on her mask as she came closer, just in case the pillagers noticed her, and looked around. There were many masked pillagers patrolling the area, and a few were riding ravagers. One of the pillagers spotted her, but saw her illager mask, so did not attack her.
“So, what brings you her today?” The pillager asked from atop his ravager.
“Well, some of the others in the mansion have a proposal for you and your pillagers,” she replied, trying to sound like a typical illager.
“Well, what is it?” the pillager asked. “We haven’t heard from any of you in ages!”
“Well, I didn’t hear everything,” Jessica lied, “but I hear it has to do with something you like doing.”
“Oh, so now those evokers want to come and raid a village with us?” He asked. “Ha!”
“Well, have you heard what’s going on up near all the villages?” She asked them. “I hear there’s some sort of invasion.”
“Oh... and how does that affect us?”
“The villages are weakened! That person who was helping them is probably off doing something!”
The pillager looked to her, then to the rest of the pillagers, and nodded. An hour later, Jessica was sitting atop a ravager, riding with the rest of the pillagers. Part one of her plan had started. She just hoped that the results were satisfactory for her.
=== Chapter 5: Ironstand ===
Pete remembered. He remembered part of how he had gotten to the forest. Something about a explosion...? Yes, it had been an explosion. Somehow, he had gotten there because of an explosion. He also remembered something else. Where he was from. He was a villager from... Ironstand. A village called Ironstand. He remembered Ironstand, with its walls, it’s buildings, the others villagers, and- Pete couldn’t remember anything else.
Well, at least I’ll have an answer to those ravagers about how I got here, he thought.
A few hours later, the Evokers, who Pete thought were called ravagers, came to the cell.
“Tell us for real,” one said. “How did you get here, why are you here, and where are you from?”
“Something- something about an explosion,” he told them. “I’m from... a village. Ironstand.”
The Evokers looked at each other, then walked away. Pete sighed a sigh of relief, not realizing what he had told them.
The first sign that something strange was going on was a trail of a strange red stone. It was night, so Jessica snuck away from the sleeping pillagers, taking off her mask and following the strange red road. After a few minutes, she saw something else- a pillar made out of a dark red brick, much darker than any red brick she had ever seen, though she hadn‘t seen much. A few more moments and she came across a tower built out of the brick, with a purple glowing thing at the top. She thought she saw a few black skeletons around it, but thought that they were normal ones and that it was just a trick of the light. Taking out the iron axe she had been hiding, Jessica approached the tower, and saw that those skeletons really were black. All her practice back at the Woodland Mansion payed off, and she took them out with ease. She kept one alive, and from him learned that they were Wither Skeletons and that there were firey creatures in the tower called Blazes. She proceeded up, and eventually reached the top. The purple thing looked like a portal of some sort, surrounded by obsidian. From the top, she could also see something in the distance. At first glance, it looked like a protected village, but it was odd for walls to have a roof on top. And on top of the roof, there was a huge version of the glowing purple thing, with many of those towers around it.
Without thinking a second thought, Jessica stepped into the glowing portal thing, hoping that if it was a portal, whatever was on the other side would help her solve the mystery of what was going on.
=== Chapter 6: Another Person’s Trip to Hell ===
Jessica was right. It was a portal. When she stepped through, she emerged not on the other side of the tower, but on a small platform made out of the same brick. Below her, she could see Blazes, Wither Skeletons, and winged creatures that she had learned were Lava Gliders. She went in the other direction, but saw more of them, so slid down the ridge that the portal was on top of, going a different way. She could see weird, zombie-like creatures with pink, floppy ears, and saw a floating tentacled creature making an eerie sound- she knew that was a ghast. Suddenly, it screeched, and sent a fireball flying at her. Jessica ran for cover, and found a red forest nearby. There were mushrooms and red roots on the ground, and instead of leaves, there was a red fungal substance on top of the trees. In the distance, she heard snorts, and saw a group of bull-like creatures fighting a group of pig people. Leaving her mask on the ground, Jessica crept closer, but realized she had made a mistake when the pig people came towards her! One grabbed her, and searched her for whatever those pig people wanted. He found her axe, but threw it down, then said something to the other pig people.
“Is she from the Overworld?” It asked.
“I think she might be a villager,” another one answered.
“Wait... what’s this?” A third one said, picking up her mask.
“What is this, and who are you?” The first one asked her, holding the mask.
“Who are you?” She replied.
“Are you from the Overworld?” The second one said. “Are you a villager?”
“No,” Jessica told them.
“Stay here,” a fourth pig person said, taking her axe and giving her a small knife in return. “We’ll come back after we know more.”
The pig people left, and Jessica wondered where she was, what the Overworld was, who they were, and lot more.
=== Chapter 7: A Vision ===
Steve.
Steve. Can you hear me?
“Yes. Who are you? Where am I?” Steve looked around but all he saw was white and black, and all he heard was clicking aside from the voice.
That doesn’t matter yet. I need to tell you something.
“What?”
There’s a cube. - of seven. — at Ironstand. - they might have it. -get it, at all costs. — all seven— the sphere, they will-— a cube- can you hear me?
“Not really.”
Well, if you did hear me, then when you wake up, you need to remember this- - a cube- remember...
Steve woke up back in the bastion. He had had a dream that someone had told him something... something about... a cube. No, that hadn’t been a dream. Too real to have been a dream. A cube... at Ironstand? Did he need to get it? Despite the fact that he was wounded, Steve stood up and ran out of the hospital room. He needed to tell Bert. If that had been real, he needed to go to Ironstand.
=== Chapter 8: A New Ally... Just In Time ===
Steve ran through the hallways of the bastion, and eventually found Bert sitting down on a ledge above the Soul Sand Valley.
“Bert?” He asked.
“Yes? What is it?”
“I had some sort of... dream. Someone told me about a cube that I needed to find in Ironstand, the village where Pete’s from. And considering what I’ve seen and heard so far, I think it could be real.”
“A cube?”
“Yes, a cube,” Steve told him. “And something about a sphere. I couldn’t hear everything.”
“I believe you, Steve,” Bert said. “If it is real, it could be something from Herobrine, or maybe the others have finally agreed to help. But chances are that it could have just been a dream.”
“But we should at least go to Ironstand to check, as long as... you and the piglins can’t go to the Overworld, can you?”
“No. We turn into zombies if we go through a portal. If you decide to go and investigate, you will have to go alone.”
But before Steve could answer to that, three piglins came, holding something.
“Steve, you shouldn’t be walking around yet,” one said. “But we need you.”
A moment later, when they were back inside the bastion, the piglins showed him a gray mask. “Do you know what this is?” One asked. “We were out hunting, and saw someone, so came to investigate. She was holding this,” she said, holding the mask. “And this,” she told him as another one showed Steve an iron axe.
“The Illagers? How?” he said to himself. “That’s an Illager Mask, and that’s an iron axe... how could a Vindicator have gotten here?”
“A Vindicator?” A piglin asked.
“A type of person in the Overworld. A type of Illager.” Steve said.
The piglins did not seem to completely understand him, but nodded. “We can take you to her, if you want.”
“Yes. Take me.”
They took Steve across the Soul Sand Valley into a Crimson Forest, where eventually they stopped. “She was over here somewhere.”
Jessica was waiting behind a rock, listening to what they were saying. She took her small knife, and peered around, seeing three of the pig people and another person with them. One of them was holding her mask and axe. They were looking for her.
After a few minutes of ducking behind rocks and trees, Jessica decided to show herself. “Alright. I’m right here.”
The pig people all turned to look at her. “Why are you here?” The other person asked. “Why are Illagers all of a sudden coming to the Nether?”
“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I just want to know what is going on.”
“Tell me. Are there more of you?”
“Last I checked, I was the only one who knew this place really existed.” Jessica replied.
“Take her back. We might not be able to trust her yet, but explain everything.”
So the pig people, who she later learned were piglins, escorted her to a black building she learned was a bastion, and after explaining everything, they learned that she was actually just trying to figure things out, and she agreed to help them.
=== Chapter 9: The Mysterious Cube ===
Steve and Jessica walked down one of Steve’s secret mining passages, the only way to get into Ironstand without getting attacked by an army of Herobrine’s Wither Skeletons, Blazes, and Lava Gliders. Steve opened a hatch, and they were sucked up by a Soul Sand bubble column. They came out in a small room with a chest, a table, and a smoker with a trapdoor and a vine ladder on the ceiling. Jessica opened the trapdoor, and they climbed up the vine into the lobby of a building, and already, they were greeted by a couple of blazes.
But this time, they had came prepared. Steve took out a Redstone gun, and Jessica pulled out her Netherite axe. The blazes knew they couldn’t win. At least, they couldn’t win by themselves. They could easily win with the five wither skeletons who came bursting through the door.
“Take the elevator!” Steve yelled as he climbed in. Jessica just ran up the stairs, chopping down a blaze on the way. Soon they reached the top of the building, where it was easier to fight off the creatures coming up. They looked up at the roof that had been put above the village, and Steve tried to reach the ladder that was hanging down. He missed, but tried again and grabbed it. Pulling himself up, he emerged in what appeared to be a Lava Glider stable. He shot at a wither skeleton, ran out, and looked to the top of another tower, where he though the cube would be.
But suddenly, Steve had an idea. “Jessica?” He called while running back into the stable.
“Yes? What?”
“Ever ridden a ravager?”
“Yes, a few times.”
“Okay, good. Wait here.”
Steve jumped back down into the village, and after a lot of rummaging through barrels and bins, he found what he was looking for. Emeralds.
“Take some of these,” he told Jessica after getting back to the roof, throwing her some emeralds. “I don’t know why, but Lava Gliders eat them. Watch me.”
He opened one gate, and held out the emerald for the Lava Glider.
The rest happened very fast. The creature grabbed the emerald, and Steve jumped on it, feeding it another as he drove it out and up. It was hard, but he didn’t fall. He was flying.
Jessica got one too, and managed to hang on as well. They soared up to the top of the tower, and he jumped off.
And there it was. A purple cube, protected by many wither skeletons, who he tried to fight. Jessica came to his aid, and Steve reached out to take the cube.
Upon touching it, he heard the same voice he had heard in his dream.
Good work. 
“I got the cube. What do I do now?” He asked.
There are two more cubes in the Overworld. I have tried to inform the piglins about the ones in the Nether, and they are searching for one at this very moment. 
“Where’s the second one in the Overworld?”
If you can hear me now, I can tell you. It is in disguise, hiding in a hidden stronghold. You need to use the cube you have now to find the stronghold, and it will not be easy. I am not saying more because Notch and I don’t know more, so you must figure out the rest on your own.
Steve was sent back, and immediately, he grabbed the cube, threw his Lava Glider an emerald, and jumped on.
That was easy, he thought, flying away. Well, Herobrine had found that one for him. Getting the next one would not be so easy.
=== Chapter 10: Escape At Last ===
Once again, Pete remembered. He remembered that the people who had imprisoned him were not ravagers, but Evokers, powerful magicians from a group called the Illagers. Ravagers were large Illager beasts that Pillagers, another type of Illager, would ride on.
The Evokers had not come back in three days, and Pete was getting desperate for escape. He didn’t remember how the jail worked, if he ever had, so he could barely begin to think of a plan. So he waited. He waited for more memories to return to him. And he remembered. He remembered Redstone. What it did, and how it worked. And suddenly, he knew how the jail worked. It was so simple, Pete didn’t even think it was supposed to be a jail. He reached out, pulled the lever, and was free. He ran out of the mansion, waiting until it was far away to stop. From there, he started making tools. Wooden ones that he used to make a small box house for the night, then basic stone ones. As he waited out the night, he remembered why it was so dangerous. Zombies, Skeletons, Creepers, Spiders. During the day, Pete kept on moving, and eventually came to what he remembered was a Pillager Outpost.
But there was only two pillagers, who looked tired and hurt. 
"What were those things?" One asked.
"I don't really know, but they seemed to come from those purple things, those portals."
And that sparked another memory for Pete. He remembered another dimension, one that could be accessed using an obsidian portal. He remembered strange creatures and dark fortresses. He remembered them coming to... the Overworld. His dimension was called the Overworld. 
Pete wanted to know more, so he took his stone sword, and stepped out of the woods, showing himself to the pillagers. Though Pete did not really know how to use a sword, he was evenly matched with the pillagers, who were very tired. After a few moments, they both stepped back.
"What do you want?" They asked.
"I just want to know more about what's going on. Tell me, what happened to the other pillagers?"
"We were the only ones sensible enough to turn back and come here. All the other went straight towards that village."
"What happened?" 
"There were these things... black skeletons, skeletal phantoms, firey creatures. They were in the village."
And Pete remembered more. He remembered Wither Skeletons and Blazes, which came from the Nether.
"The black skeletons are Wither Skeletons. The firey things are Blazes. They come from a dimension called the Nether."
"We can believe you," the pillagers said. "We both have a common enemy."
"So can you show me what's over there?" Pete asked.
"No, we wouldn't go back. But we can give you a few things. The villages are north. Take this compass and this crossbow."
Pete took them, and a day later, started his journey towards the villages.
===Chapter 11: Ender Pearls===
"So, you need Eyes of Ender to find any stronghold, unless you happen to stumble upon one," Steve said. "So, we need Ender Pearls to make them. We have plenty of blaze rods and powder."
"So... we need to kill some endermen?" Jessica asked. 
"I think. If this stronghold is hidden and hard to find, we need a lot."
"Okay. Let's get started."
It was night, and they were hoping to find some. After a few minutes, one teleported into Steve's view. He waited, then looked it in the eye, preparing his sword. It came, but didn't attack him.
"Wait, wait" it said. "You're Steve, right?"
He was surprised, but answered. "Yes, I am."
"You didn't know we were sentient, did you?" The enderman asked.
"Um... no?" He said. 
"Well, we are. You want Ender Pearls, right? You want to fight the dragon?"
"Well, not exactly," Jessica told her. "We're looking for something else."
"What exactly are you looking for?" 
"Well..." she showed it the cube.
"What is that?"
So Steve had no choice but to tell the enderman everything. It listened, and seemed to actually get it. 
"Wait," the enderman said after Steve was done.. "I saw Pete. I warned him about the invasion. I also saw you fighting the skeletons in the fortress."
"what?" Jessica and Steve both said. "What do you mean?"
"I came to Ironstand. I warned Pete, and then told him to go to the Nether to save you."
"So... can you help us?"
"I guess," the enderman, who's name was Amy, said. "I can give you my Ender Pearls."
===Chapter 12: And Yet Another Trip to the Nether===
After a day or two traveling, Pete arrived around where the pillagers had told him to go. In the distance, he saw a large village that he now remembered as was Ironstand, and a tower nearby, with what he had remembered was a Nether portal on top. And during his travels, Pete had remembered something in the Nether, some people... pigs? Pig people? Whoever they were, they had helped him. And he knew that wherever they were was close to the Ironstand portal and the tower portal, so he decided he needed to get there. He entered the tower, and rushed through the blazes and wither skeletons, but got injured along the way and took some hits. Eventually, he got to the top, being chased by many. When Pete jumped through the portal, a wither skeleton came through behind him, and touched him. He remembered what happened when you got hit by a wither skeleton. Pete ran, tumbling down a ridge of red stone and eventually coming to stop in a small cave that the skeleton, who was still following couldn't get in. Pete was hurt and felt very, very tired, so he lay down to get some sleep, hoping he was safe.
Pete awoke several hours later to a snort. He slowly sat up, and look around to see a weird pig creature walking around, grazing on the red things on the forest floor. It seemed to see him, and snorted a loud, angry snort, running towards him and throwing him back. Pete lashed out and hit it with his sword, but it kept charging. He ran, and it chased him through the forest that he remembered to be a Crimson Forest. And he remembered that thing to be a hoglin! 
Pete took another hit at the Hoglin, and it jumped back, then attacked. He hit it again, and fell down on the ground exhausted. Luckily, the Hoglin stepped back, and he had time to recover. He got nervous when he heard another snort a moment later, but saw that it was different. He saw two of those pig people, those... piglins! They were piglins! One of them saw him, and looked shocked.
"Wait... you're that villager, right? Pete?"
"How do you know my name?" Pete asked,
"What happened to you?" The piglins asked. "Where were you and how did you get back here?"
"Look, I don't know who you are, but I think it's because I lost my memories... I am Pete. But I don't remember you."
And he told them everything. They believed him, and told him to come with them. The piglins took Pete to a place called a bastion, and they got him healed before telling him anything. After Pete felt better, the piglins went some where, and came back with three more piglins, one in a wheelchair and two with uniforms and golden arm bands. The one in the wheelchair spoke.
"Hello Pete. You may not remember me, but I'm Bert. We met briefly in the fortress, and then soon after, it exploded. That was when you disappeared."
"Tell me more, Bert." Pete said. "I need to know, and I feel like I need to help."
"I can tell you, but only from my point of view. For me, it started when we found Steve following a blaze..."
===Chapter 13: Another Cube to be Found===
Pete had remembered almost everything. What Bert had told him had sparked memory after memory after memory, until he had remembered the whole thing. He remembered the wither skeleton in Ironstand, the enderman coming to warn him, going to the Nether for the first time and saving Steve. Pete was ready to help, and Bert told him how he could do us.
"So, the person who told Steve about the cube, who I suspect is Jeb, also told me and the other piglins about a different cube. This one is in a Hunter Fortress, and it won't be easy. Hunters are some of our worst enemies, and, like their names suggest, try to hunt us down. We usually try to ignore them when they're not attacking us, but we can't now."
"So, we need to go to the Hunter Fortress to find the cube?" Pete asked. 
"Yes," Bert said. "But I won't be coming."
He gestured towards one of the other piglins. "This is Fredrick. He's a member of the order we call the Brutes. They're our elite warriors, and years ago, I was one."
"Hello, Pete," Fredrick said. "I'll be leading this expedition."
"So... do you know where you're going?" Pete asked. 
"Yes, and it's pretty far away," the Brute answered. "We'll start tomorrow."
Fredrick left the room, and Bert spoke. "Pete, if you don't feel safe coming, I understand and you shouldn't go. You don't even need to be in this dimension at all."
"I'm fine," he said. "I'll go. I feel I need to."
Bert walked away, and Pete was left to wait until he set off towards the fortress. This time, the Hunter Fortress.
A few hours later, Pete was woken early by Bert and Fredrick. He could hear other piglins in the bastion moving around, preparing. 
"We leave in an hour," Fredrick said, and then the two piglins walked away. The villager followed, and found the bastion full of activity. Outside, people were getting out hoglins and striders, and they were loading some barrels on to the bigger ones. Fredrick and the other Brutes were also preparing, and Bert seemed to be overseeing it all. Pete walked down to the bottom of the bastion, and looked around a bit more. In what seemed like mere seconds, he saw Fredrick coming down and sitting on a saddled strider, and another Brute showed Pete which hoglin was his. Soon, they had everything they needed, so started going on their way. They rode through warped forests, basalt deltas, and soul sand valleys, and still had a lot more distance to cover. There was another cube to be found.
===Chapter 14: Meanwhile, in the Overworld...===
Steve, Jessica, and Amy thought they were doing good. They would hold the cube while throwing the Eyes of Ender, and they would follow where the eyes went. It took a long time, and they came across many villages on the way. If the villagers didn't already know, they would warn them about Herobrine and the invasion. Every time they thought they were close, they would dig, but they never found it. They kept going, and didn't find anything. "Are we even looking for a stronghold?" Jessica asked while they were digging. "Whoever he was said that the stronghold and cube were in disguise, were hidden. We don't know what we're actually looking for."
"Good point," Steve replied while putting a torch on the wall of their tunnel. "But if we don't know what we're looking for, what should we look for? Should we explore every cave, climb every mountain, and search every Temple?"
"Yes." Jessica said. "That's exactly what we do."
So they explored every cave, climbed every mountain, searched every Temple. Nothing. They knew they were throwing it right, because if they had been doing it normally they would have found many strongholds by the time something finally happened. When they tried to throw the Eye of Ender, it just fell right back down as if it were a ball. They took that as a sign to start digging, and Steve took out his shovel. Jessica got the iron pickaxe they had made using all the materials that they had gathered, and they dug. They dug down with their shovels and pickaxes, and didn't find anything for a while, until they came upon a cave. So they explored. It was just another cave, so after a few minutes they decided to go leave and to try throwing a new Eye of Ender. Steve batted aside a cave spider, and they started climbing up the stairway. 
Wait...... a cave spider? Steve paused. Cave spiders only lived in mineshafts!
"Guys!" he said. "Come back down!" 
"What is it?" Amy asked, getting excited. "Did you find anything?"
"Sort of," he said. "I saw a cave spider."
"So?" Jessica asked. "It's a cave!"
"No, no, no. Despite their name, cave spiders only live in mineshafts. Something is up."
They descended back into the cave, and looked around for anything they had missed. Nothing but some iron ore. 
Just because, Steve broke it out of the stone, and moved it aside.
BOOM. Some stone and gravel moved aside, revealing a hidden section of the cave. They had found the hidden stronghold.
Woosh. An arrow shot by, triggered by a pressure plate Amy had stepped on. Steve hopped over a cactus trap, and Jessica threw a big piece of rock over a fire in a hidden hole. The stone slowly turned to stone brick as they continued, making it obvious that they had found the stronghold. Now they just needed to find the cube. They made it out of several more traps, and now were in a place that really seemed like a stronghold. More cave spiders attacked, and a strange, metal creature jumped up and shrieked. Jessica threw her axe at it, but it batted it aside. 
Steve looked closer while shooting at it with his gun, and saw what it looked like. Its head was like a creeper head, and its body was like a metal scorpion. It was very strong, and did not mind that it had an axe stuck in its body. Steve just kept on shooting, and realized its weak spot, the only spot that didn't seem to be metal, was its head. He had ran out of ammo, so used his sword instead. It was strong, but they killed it eventually. 
There would be several more traps and challenges, but they had gotten into the stronghold. Now, they just needed to find the cube.
===Chapter 15: Two Groups of Hunters, Two Things to be Hunted===
The Hunter Fortress was large, tall, sturdy, and imposing, and was built into the ridge of netherrack above an otherwise silent warped forest. Fredrick and the other Brutes had decided that the best way to get in was from behind, but if they really wanted to mine into it, they would have to take a dip in some lava, and only Fredrick had a strider.
"Anyone know how to climb?" A Brute asked
"Let's take out the black wolves that are in the forest first." Another said.
"I could take my strider and see if it's possible to get in from behind," Fredrick said.
There was a lot of commotion; enough to alert the black wolves that had been watching them the whole time!
"I guess we know what we're doing," Pete said as he hit a wolf that was attacking him. There were a lot, and it was a challenge to take them all on. Once on of them had pounced on top of Pete and started clawing at his face, and he had needed to smash it with a fallen hammer. However, they got most of them in the end, and the rest stayed back. But their challenges had only just begun. A horn was sounded. An arrow shot down. It was the Hunters.
Arrows rained down. Hunters shouted. A log fell and rolled towards them. The Brutes were taking out their crossbows, and the common piglins were already firing. The other people had agreed to let Fredrick go check it out from the back, and he was riding his strider through the forest. He saw the edge of the lava lake, and jumped in while on the strider's back, trying to see if there was any way to get in. There was, but it would not be easy. There was a tunnel in the netherrack, and a bridge over part of the lava; but it was filled with Hunters. And they spotted him. He and his strider ran, but an arrow hit it in the leg. It almost flung Fredrick off, but he managed to get out of the lava lake before his leg got hit with an arrow. Fredrick ran behind a log, and waited a moment before coming back. 
The others were not doing well. They had been scattered, and many ran to him when they saw him.
"There's a way in from the back," Fredrick said. "But it's still really risky. Everyone, come with me!"
They followed him to the edge of the lava lake, and he showed them the bridges and passageways. 
"It's risky, but not as risky as just attacking it head on. Search around for passageways that aren't above the lava. If not, we'll try to get some striders to help us." 
Everyone started looking, all hoping they would get lucky and actually find something. Fredrick, who was good with striders, tried to get some more striders in case Plan A didn't work.
Pete heard a shout, and ran over. A piglin had found an entrance, but it was low and small, probably for the black wolves. Still, it was something, and they crouched down to see if they could get in. Pete could, and so could a few others! Those who could crawled in, and the others were given the choice of staying put or taking a strider through the lava. Most chose the former. Pete, Fredrick, and some other piglins crawled through the tunnel, and luckily, no black wolves came to disturb them.
On the other side, they emerged in a small room, and immediately had to take down a Hunter. Another one was guarding the exit to the room, and they got that one too. 
"The cube," Pete asked the Hunter. "Do you know anything about it?"
"A cube? No." It said, but it seemed uncertain.
Pete watched Fredrick slowly open the door, and then close it again. 
"There are too many of them," he said. "The only way we can possibly stand a chance is if we stay in here and fight with our crossbows."
"Everyone, get your crossbows!" Another Brute said. They all took them out, and slowly opened the door. 
The Hunters spotted them before they were ready, and grabbed their bows. The Brutes used their axes to block them, and the others their swords. There were too many. 
"I have an idea," one Brute said. "Hunter Fortresses usually have one central building surrounded by smaller ones that get smaller and smaller. If we can work our way to the middle while searching each building, we would have a better chance of finding the cube."
"Okay!" Fredrick yelled over the Hunters' shouting. "Everyone, when you get out, run to the nearest building. Run fast enough that they can't shoot you."
He opened the door, and Pete ran. Arrows whizzed by, and one scraped his leg, but he kept on running until they reached one of the larger buildings. No cube. Just a few more Hunters. A few piglins were wounded, but that didn't stop them. The would leave one healthy piglin with them to defend them, and would continue on. It was worth it. They needed that cube.
===Chapter 16: Keeping the Balance===
Another metal creature fell down dead. Steve looked into the room it had been guarding, and found nothing. They continued on. Another cave spider. Another metal thing. Nothing. Just empty rooms. 
"How big is this thing?" Steve asked himself as he narrowly dodged a cave spider. "This is not a normal stronghold."
"Of course it's not," Jessica answered. "If this was a normal stronghold, you would be fighting the dragon by now."
"If only it was just an ordinary stronghold," was his answer.
They continued. More cave spiders. More of the metal things. 
And finally, something happened.
"We're right back where we started," Jessica pointed out. "Does that mean we've searched every room?" 
"It could," Steve said. "But it could also mean that we killed all the monsters. Let's start looking more closely. Look for secrets. Rooms, doors, chests."
They looked. They found a few chests, and some rooms they hadn't found before. None really helped. Until they looked more closely at one of them. The room looked exactly like an end portal room, but was built with stone bricks. 
"Steve!" Jessica yelled. "Come here!"
She showed him the stone brick end portal, and he took out some eyes of Ender. Amy came too, and took out some of hers. They placed them on the fake portal. 
And nothing happened.... until... something happened.
A door opened. Some stone moved aside to reveal a room. It was built with purple terracotta, and had a door on one wall. They opened it, and it revealed a long, dark hallway. Steve held a lantern as he they walked down it, looking for more doors. At the end, there was a small table with no cube. They had come all that way for nothing. They examined the table, and there was nothing special. Just an ordinary oak wood table. 
"Wait," Amy called out. "The cube. It could be anywhere here."
They looked at the purple cube they had been carrying.
And looked at the purple walls.
And started looking.
They searched the walls, the ceiling, the floor. Many blocks glowed like the cube, but weren't it. But the three of them knew it was there. Jessica looked under the table...
and there it was. A cube. They had found it. They both reached out to touch it, knowing what might happen. It happened.
You found it for me. Good.
"Who are you? Are you the same one who talked to us last time?"
Steve could almost sense the being shaking its head, saying no. He hoped for the best, that it was another one of them, the people who had created him, but no.
Notch created you to restore the balance. He thought you could fix the world. But you only did the opposite.
All I'm doing is trying to do what you meant to do, and failed to do so horribly. All I'm trying to do is restore the balance.
Steve was then looking at the cube. Jessica and Amy both looked puzzled. 
"Steve. What happened?"
He didn't answer. He just looked at the cube, and thought about what that mysterious being had said. What Herobrine has claimed to be doing.
=== Chapter 17: Just the Beginning ===
Pete jumped into a building as a Hunter’s arrow whizzed by. There were only four people left: Pete, Fredrick, a Brute, and an ordinary piglin. All the others were wounded, and were waiting it out in safe places. Fredrick opened the door, and they ran, dodging more arrows. Just as he was running towards the center building, an arrow struck Pete in the arm. He fell down, then got back up and walked the rest of the way.
”It’s not safe for me to wait for you in here.” He said. “There are to many Hunters. I’ll continue on.”
They did. Pete continued on, his arm bleeding where the arrow had hit him.
They carefully searched every room, and didn’t seem to find anything for a while. Nothing but some paintings that didn’t hide anything but blackstone bricks.
“This is supposed to be secret,” Fredrick said. “We can’t just expect to find it anywhere.” So they looked in unexpected places. And they did find things. They found strange blocks hidden around the building.
While having to fight off Hunters, they examined the blocks. There were different wood types: crimson wood and warped wood, and there was some netherrack. They knew they were on to something.
“Wait,” Fredrick said. “Those blocks... they’re in a pattern. They're pointing towards a spot in the room."
Everybody ran to look. The pattern looked like some arrows, and it was pointing somewhere... to a spot in the room! They walked there, and tried to lift up the floor around it, hoping to uncover some secret passage. And they actually did. There was a long ladder going down into the darkness. They climbed down into a room... with one of the same creatures that Steve, Jessica, and Amy had had to fight! They didn't know that, though, so it took them a long time to figure out its weak spot.
They walked through another room. Another monster.
"Look for more secrets," Pete said, his arm still hurting.
They found more secrets. The same things they had found above them! They followed the pattern, and found another. 
"Could there be a pattern to the patterns?" Fredrick wondered aloud. "Look more closely. Remember what the patterns looked like before."
There was a pattern to the pattern. And Pete knew where the cube was. He moved a few blocks in the ceiling, and found a hidden room. The four of them climbed up, and there it was. A purple cube. He reached out, and took it.
Good work. 
"Who are you?" Pete asked.
I am the person who talked to Steve in his dream, and now am talking to you. 
"Who are you?"
I am called Jeb. I'm on your side.
"How many cubes are there left?" 
Steve has two. You have one. Herobrine has one. There are three left. Two in the End, and one in the Overworld. You are going for the one in the Overworld.
"Okay? Could you help us?"
A little. There is not much I can do. I can only tell you that it will probably be the hardest cube to find. Your adventure through the seas will be very dangerous.
(Continued in Part 3)
Category:Withering Heights
Category:Stories
Category:Fan Stories