Chapter 13 || Unlucky For Some

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- Unknown POV -

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The Dragon was restless.

It had not been that way for some time; it was usually stoic, chained and miserable, choosing to remain in silence rather than fight an unwinnable battle to break free. The General was the only one who saw it; the General was the only one who spoke with it. Its wings were hidden from all eyes apart from hers.

But we could tell when it wasn't happy. After all, its life force was connected directly to ours- we felt its pain and its energy. Its unsettled mind pulsed through ours, and so turned us troubled, too. We were all connected. We were all a single power.

The Dragon's wings were restless; they ached for vengeance, for death and for agony. To shatter Light's chains.

We would obey its will.

"We must retrieve the Blade as soon as possible," the General stated with supremacy. "The Dragon grows increasingly tired of this realm."

I nodded in agreement. She continued. "The humans will be on high alert after the loss we suffered at the boy's school. Now, we have three awakened Wielders and two Endermen traitors to deal with - not to mention that the Stars have placed their faith in Kai Dare's ability. The Stars. Those dead empty spirits are something we must face, now." Her tone was disgusted.

I wondered if, perhaps, she was thinking of her brother. He could be a Star; if not that, he was a Ghost, travelling the abstract corners of the world in a hollow existence.

All dead became either Stars or Ghosts. The majority belonged to the sky as Stars; the select few scoundrels became Ghosts, and were cursed to half a life for eternity. Herobrine had been a scoundrel. He would probably be a Ghost, like Alex had been before his liberation.

"I have little power over the Stars, but they have none over me either - their power is embodied through the Guardian. As long as the Guardian is not realised, we will win this war," The General said, eyes hard and face as cold as stone.

This talk of Guardians confused me. "General, what is a Guardian?"

She glared at me, but answered anyway. "There is always a Guardian on this earth. They are selected when they are born, and their duty is to protect the Blade. The Creator himself chooses them. They have mostly been rendered useless over the generations, however, because the Blade has remained hidden for longer than most remember. Even a Guardian has no sense of the Blade's location, despite being tied directly to it."

I was still doubtful. "Then a Guardian, according to what you're saying, is quite useless," I said. "They protect the Blade, yes, but with what?"

The General's purple eyes grew darker. "They are the carrier of Light. They have the ability within themselves to repair the Dragon's chains, if they are ever broken. The Creator's power flows through their veins."

I stiffened; I understood her concern now. A mortal like that could be the ruin of all the Dragon's plans.

"As long as the Guardian is not found, we will be safe. Until then, we must move quickly to keep ahead of the Stars' meddling."

"General?" I cautiously inquired. "Do you know of who the Guardian may be?"

Even while she was thinking, her face remained stoic and frozen, unable to display emotion that wasn't anger or irritance. "The last Guardian I know of was Clare Jones, one of Herobrine's followers. She died many years ago. It is likely that her successor is someone who inhibits similar traits to hers - cunning, determination, strength."

"Do you know anyone of those qualities?"

She thought again for a moment. "No."

Then, something in her violet gaze clicked and I watched the most small and sinister of smirks crawl across her face, mirroring an equally sinister idea I knew was cultivating inside her dark and twisted mind. When she spoke, her voice was like silk.

"However, I have a means of finding out exactly who the current Guardian may be."

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- Nya's POV (it's been a while ^u^) -

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There was a loud crash from the kitchen, followed by Zach's frustrated groaning and Tali's amused laughter. I sighed and went to check out the mess.

Tali was clutching onto her stomach and suffering fits of giggles, while Zach stood below an open cupboard, covered in broken egg shells and soaking wet in milk, a once-full bucket on his head. I hadn't seen him look so done with life in ages, eyes staring forward, body completely still. I snorted, and he turned to me, the bucket tumbling on the floor in an echoing clatter. I tried to hold myself back, but oh my Notch he looked too hilarious oh jeez - I burst out laughing with Tali and our hollers filled the room, drowning out Zach's protests.

He was fuming - "You guys stop it! It was an accident, it wasn't that funny!" he was saying, but that just made Tali and I laugh even harder.

Suddenly, he picked up the bucket and filled it with water from a cauldron - and while I was distracted, threw its contents over the bench and onto me and Tali, drenching us both. Tali gasped and we both stood frozen, mouths agape.

A huge smirk spread across his face. "Serves you right," he said, looking smug. Tali pulled a bucket of water from her inventory, and tossed it back over to Zach, who was now drowned in milk and water. He was now thoroughly offended.

"This is war!" Tali announced dramatically, jumping up onto the bench, another bucket in her hands.

"I'll take you both down!" I yelled, and it was indeed war.

In the end, I won, Tali gave up, and the only injury sustained a fracture of Zach's ego. Poor guy. His daughter was beating him in almost everything recently; she had an amazing talent for sword fighting and was better than Zach had been at her age, she was an excellent horse rider, and her maths skills were already better than his, and she was only in elementary school. The one edge he had was cooking, at this point. We couldn't trust Tali around fire at all - she had my general clumsiness, which was kinda disappointing, but oh well. At least she got her dad's wits.

She got his hair, too; it was long and golden, and in the sun it was like a jewel, glittering and shining. The only physical attribute she got from me were her eyes - an ocean blue, bright as day. She was always happy and cheeky and joyous, and it reminded me of her namesake, sometimes. My daughter had her aunt's confidence.

After Kai's . . . incident involving the destruction of our entire house via burning, we'd set up a temporary home in our potions store while we rebuilt our home. The new layout had features almost identical to the old one, but was now instead built with more fire-resistent resources, like bricks and stones. There was no wood. We figured we would probably be thankful of that decision one day. This new kitchen was more open than the last, lighter and warmer, and I was glad of the change as sunlight poured through the windows.

"Ya know, you could've let me win," Zach objected as we cleaned up the mess we made. His hair was thinner than when we met all those years ago, but his eyes were still the same wonderful hazel as they were under the canopy of a haunted green jungle.

"No way," I countered. "It's not my fault I'm better at water fights than you are."

"At least I can still beat you with a sword," he leered, eyes gleaming with playful affection. He leant over and kissed my cheek. "Plus, I don't overcook every single pork chop we attempt to have for dinner."

I blushed and knocked his shoulder. He smiled and kissed me again, and my cheeks started burning. You know, it was still nice that even after being married for so long, he still gave me butterflies. I was glad that those nervous feelings never dissipated.

"I love you," he murmured, nuzzling my shoulder.

"I love you too," I said. "And I'd love you even more if you cleaned this up for me."

He pulled back, mockingly outraged, pouting. "Okay, okay," I joked, "It's fine, I'll do it."

My fire hadn't faded since the day Herobrine was destroyed, and over time I'd found other uses for it. I waved my hand and concentrated on heat - slowly, I warmed the air around us, turning the water to steam; it disappeared quickly and left the entire kitchen without any evidence of our water war.

Zach whistled. "Still cool," he commented, and then he glanced up at the clock. My gaze trailed, and a sinking horror settled in both of us. We turned to each other with wide eyes.

"Kai's pick-up!" we both exclaimed at the same time, because we'd both forgotten. I mean, I loved Zach, and he loved me, but sometimes two halves don't make a perfectly functional whole.

I went outside and saddled up Aphrodite; she was astonishingly old now, but her coat was still clean and snowy, and she never failed to love a ride. I also fetched and tied our other horse, Opal, a mare of caramel with white spots, only a few years old, for Kai to ride home.

As I rode, the familiar feeling of Aphrodite carrying me fast through the streets of the Cart afternoon, Opal trailing behind on a lead, I reflected on the first time I'd ever felt free.

It hadn't been the moment Zach and I fled Herobrine's palace after I shot an arrow through the demon's chest. It hadn't been the second time we'd escaped the Nether, alongside tired and scarred friends, a cold body, and a sense of hollow victory. It hadn't been my wedding, or when Kai was born. I always felt held down by something; I always seemed tied to a stake, unable to fly, until . . .

There was something liberating about telling Kai of Clare's death. It's always easier with friends, I'd said, and those words lifted a weight from my chest that had been there ever since I left behind a girl in a place we could never recover her. Notch, Clare, I thought wistfully, you'd laugh if you knew how much you haunt me.

I hoped she was happy, wherever she was. Talia and Mackenzie and Emily, too - I missed them all.

Except Herobrine. Screw that ass.

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- Kai's POV -

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Xav, Flora, Eve, Scott, Zoe, Iris, Phoenix and I had spent the morning in the Cart Markets - I'd invited Ember and Kylie, but they had declined. I didn't think they liked me very much. Phoenix assured me that of course they enjoyed my company, but, you know, they sort of had a good reason to dislike me. It was my fault that Kylie died, after all. She'd come back, sure, but that still didn't change the fact that I'd gotten her killed. The Endermen had been after me that day. Everyone died because of me.

But I would never tell anyone I thought so. They would try and tell me otherwise, but their words would only make it worse. So, I kept quiet about my doubts. I tried to use today to distract myself.

"Oi, Kai! I reckon this would suit you," Eve called from a stall, holding up a sickeningly sequined headband.

"It'd match your diary," Xav taunted as I ripped the headband from Eve's grip, blushing.

"What diary?" Phoenix questioned. His light blond hair shone handsomely under the sun's reach, and his eyes matched the colour of the mandala printed on his shirt. He turned to me. "Kai, you own a sequined diary?"

"Yes - No! I don't! It's a joke!" I gushed, flustered, while Eve and Xav laughed and Phoenix looked confused. "It's my sister's," I tried to explain. "She was pranking me."

"Sure, Kai," Eve marveled. "Suuuure."

I opened my mouth to protest again, but Iris broke in. "You all look like idiots, yelling in the middle of the path. Shut up a bit."

Instead of listening to her, Xav used his hands to circle his mouth and called out loudly, "KAI DARE OWNS A SEQUINED DIARY. I REPEAT, KAI DARE OWNS A SEQUINED -" He was cut off by Iris slapping his head. He pouted and rubbed the spot she'd hit, playing the hurt puppy. People turned and stared for a moment, and then moved on, seemingly unpleased.

"I said, shut up a bit, Merch," she snapped.

Xav smiled his brilliant smile and punched her shoulder lightly. "I can always count on you for a reality check," he said. Then he glanced around. "Uh, does anyone know where Flora and Scott and Zoe are?"

A chorus of "nah"'s followed and Xavier went off in search of our missing friends, leaving Eve, Rainbow, Phoenix and I to stroll through the crowded lanes of stalls. They were selling all kinds of things, from potions to ores to armor to cake to. . . literal stuffed zombies, apparently. Everything was open and colourful, full of life and sound. It was my kind of place, but not Iris's. She looked mildly disgusted.

Phoenix was the opposite. His face was bright and excited, eyes dancing happily whenever something new caught his attention, which was often. He liked to tell me about how different being human was compared to being Enderborn. It's all so vivid! If I were an Enderman still, I wouldn't be able to see the colours in dyed wool, or the blue of water, or the fire in your eyes. I'm so glad I chose this path.

It was refreshing to see someone so purely joyous despite all the recent happenings. I liked listening to him talk. His voice was smooth and full of energy, and the wonder in his tone never failed to make me hopeful.

The single thing that bothered me was that he was taller than I was. I wasn't necessarily a short person, so I usually took pride in my height, but Phoenix put me to shame. It was incredibly frustrating. He was like, six-foot-impossible-inches. It wasn't fair.

"Is there anything you really need to buy? I wanna get out of here as fast as possible," Iris stated, chipped and cold.

Eve rolled her eyes. "Chill, Ice. We can leave once Xav and the rest catch up to us."

"Yeah, Rainbow," I said, knocking her shoulder. "Lighten up a bit."

She pulled a face. "Asking me to lighten up is like inviting a zombie inside your house - stupid, arguably pointless, and likely to get you killed." She sent me a glare.

I threw my hands back. "Woah there, Little Miss Sunshine, don't get too happy or you'll attract all the puppies of the world."

Iris scoffed rudely and flicked her wrist. "Whatever. I'll catch up with you guys later." And then she pushed her way through the gathering of people and escaped from our sight, leaving Eve, Phoenix and I a little taken aback.

"Well then," Eve said, "Someone's in a bad mood today."

Iris was a moody person, but recently it had been getting worse, and more unbalanced. She spent most of her days angry or annoyed. I wished I could do something to make her feel better, but so far every attempt had been futile, including today's market. I knew she was frustrated and lonely and upset - I just wished I had the answer to her problems.

Phoenix nudged me playfully. "She'll come around," he reassured us. "Let's just enjoy ourselves while we can!"

He's right, I thought to myself. Keep your head up. Stay positive. "Let's go buy some food," I said. "Eve . . . wait, where did Eve go?"

Phoenix pointed to a distant stall decorated in dozens of swords in all kinds of glittering shapes; Eve was indeed there, completely swallowed by all the shiny new weapons around her. We would never manage to drag her away from there. It seems our group had dropped from eight to two. "We'll go," I stated. "There's no way she's leaving that stall."

"Okay!" Phoenix perked, and together we found a small-ish stall selling apples and bread, bought our shares, and then settled in a park a few dozen blocks  away, sitting on a bench facing the many other people enjoying the warm morning. There were heaps of kids playing and adults talking; the scene was a relaxing one, filled with bustling movements and familiarity.

I started eating, but stopped after a while when I realised that Phoenix didn't have any food. "Hey," I questioned, "what're you gonna have for lunch?"

He smiled and raised an eyebrow at me - what was it with everyone being able to raise an eyebrow here? No fair. "Endermen don't eat, Kai," he said, and I flushed.

"Oh. Right. I knew that," I retorted, putting my food down to observe the businesses of all the park visitors; there were parents holding the hands of small, tiny, adorable little humans that I really wanted to squish the cheeks of; there were other teenagers like us, hanging around in loud factions; there were old couple on benches like the one Phoenix and I were sharing, looking peaceful. I wondered if I looked peaceful, too. For once, I felt that way.

"Are you scared?" Phoenix asked me suddenly, making me jump. He was still staring forwards, purple eyes catching and reflecting light in crystalline rays.

"No," I said. "I just can't wait to fight the Child and end this."

Phoenix shut his eyes and sighed. "Liar."

I stiffened; his voice wasn't cold or condescending, just honest. My heart started beating harder.

He continued in a tone not disinviting, not distainful. "You're very scared, Kai Dare."

My fists clenched. "Don't tell me that," I said, my words trembling slightly. "I know myself better than you do. Besides, aren't you scared?"

A small shadow of a smile swept across his face. "I'm terrified, Kai, but that's only normal. It's normal to be scared, okay? Don't try and lie to yourself."

I bit my lip. "Don't tell me what to do, you -" Enderscum. I inhaled sharply and stood up, looking down at my friend - my friend whose friends destroyed my life. Stop it, I hissed at myself. It's not his fault. He's trying to help you, idiot!

"Kai," he started, but I didn't want to hear his voice anymore. I turned and began walking away. The sounds around me turned from tranquil to torturous. He was yelling after me but I pretended not to hear.

You're not scared, I resounded in my mind. You are not scared. You aren't scared of titles, you aren't scared of stars, you aren't scared of the Child or Endermen or dying. You can't be scared - it doesn't matter what Mum said, you CAN'T be scared, not now, not when there are people who died for you and people who are protecting you. Not when you're a Guardian.

YOU CAN'T BE SCARED. YOU CAN'T BE SCARED. STOP BEING SCARED.

There was a tight hand around my wrist and Phoenix turned me to face him, his grip tender but firm and gaze concerned. "Kai," he said, softly, gently, too gently. "Kai, what's wrong?"

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. "Just leave me alone, please," I begged, trying to pull away but failing. There were tears burning in the corners of my eyes. "Phoenix, let go."

"It's okay to be frightened. I fear the Child, too. I fear lots of things - Kai, everyone does! You're allowed to be frightened, I promise you that."

I used my free hand to wipe the tears away before they trailed down my cheek. "And you know what else I promise?" Phoenix continued, dropping my wrist and instead stepping closer and leaning down to face me. "Kai, I promise I'll protect you. You're the reason I left my old life behind, and I'll do everything possible to keep you safe."

I choked back an embarrassing sob. "Thanks," I managed. "But you don't need to."

Phoenix smiled again. It was very warm, very open, very raw. "That's alright," he said. "I want to."

I smiled too, through the haze of mistiness clouding my mind. Right now, the only thing I could see clearly was Phoenix standing in front of me. "You're a pretty weird person, Phoenix."

He leaned back and laughed softly. "Yeah, I get that a lot, especially from Kylie."

I promise I'll protect you. "Did you mean what you said?" I asked, dropping my gaze again.

"Yes," he said, strength ringing around his words. "I'll be your guardian."

I blushed and stepped back, knocking his shoulder. "That's stupid," I protested, although in truth my heart was bouncing in happiness. "But as long as you don't get hurt, I'm okay with it."

His face darkened again, just for a moment - or maybe I'd imagined it. "I won't," he declared.

We stood in silence for only a second before I heard a voice, as distinct as day:

Kai. You're in danger.

I glanced wildly around, aware of Phoenix's confusion and my own alarming actions. I didn't see the source of the voice, but I had definitely heard it; it had rang in my mind clear as a bell.

Go and find Nya, now. She needs your help, Kai.

But where was she? The starry woman - she sounded so close, but by Phoenix's expression, obviously I'd been the only one to hear it.

Kai! Suddenly the voice was a hiss. Go help Nya! Hurry!

"Where is she?" I asked, spinning and turning but not seeing the starry woman anywhere.

She's a few streets down from your house. Be careful, Kai. The Child is there too.

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Humanity is wEak,,, Humanity is purposeless. Day by day, my power multiplies-----//day by day, my vengeance formulates% itself into a beast even bigger%% than the last,,,, And soon, it will be FREED.

Fear me,,, Fear my strength%%% Fear my wings. Fear my freedom.

For my chains are almost broken.

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Uh oh! Nya's in trouble. But what kind of trouble, you ask? That's for next chapter.

{Here's some important clarrification from the Unknown's POV, cos that was kinda confusing:

- a STAR is a dead person who went to a sort of heaven, like Clare  (the whole 'starry woman' business, ya know)

- a GHOST is also a dead person, but more like Alex in Herobrine's Revenge (remember the chains? the spooky haunting Herobrine stuff? yeah, that). They're like demons, but more pathetic, I guess

These aren't that important, but it's sorta noteworthly to know that the Stars are on the Creator's side of things, and do not want the Enderdragon to be freed. Anyyyyyyway}

I'll try make the update as fast as possible!

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QOTC: Do you believe in aliens?

aotc: the universe is way too expansive and incomprehensible for such closed-mindedness. aliens totally exist.

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Thanks to all you guys for sticking around! Bye!!

- Jazz

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