Chapter 33: "You have to stop this! She's dying!"

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- Emerald's POV -

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I've already gotten possessed once - I hadn't planned, nor wanted, to second the experience.

But apparently fate thought differently.

About an hour after the run-in with Zach, I had joined Vent and Gemma in the cafeteria. They were both a little confused at Zach's slight panic, since he wasn't the person you'd really expect to panic. They told me that he'd gone off with Clare, who had stated that she knew where Nya was. Then things started getting messed up.

"That's not right," I said. Vent and Gemma both shot me 'what are you talking about' looks, and I continued. "Clare was in our dorm with me. She left just before Zach came and asked if I'd seen Nya anywhere."

Gemma's dark eyes flashed. "What, so Clare was lying?"

I stayed silent. I could tell Gemma's brain was working for explanations, just like it usually did in situations that required more complicated answers than most. Vent was quiet as well - which was unlike him.

"She probably saw her own the way to the cafeteria," Gemma said. "it makes sense."

I bit my lip. The solution seemed a little sketchy to me - the university was huge, so how come Clare was the one to find Nya so quickly?

"Yeah," I replied anyways. "you're probably right."

I wish we hadn't dropped the subject so quickly.

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"What the hell is going on?" Vent yelled into the darkness.

Gemma's voice was high-pitched and frightened. "I don't know!"

"Does anyone know where we are?" Jordan asked, and he sounded closer to me than the others.

"No," replied Mackenzie. Unlike Gemma, Mackenzie's voice was soft, quiet. But I could still detect the slight tremor.

We were somewhere dark - none of us could see a thing. We didn't even know how we got here. All I really know is that someone knocked me out and then dragged me here - wherever here is. When I woke up, the floor was cold, and I had a splitting headache - then I had heard Gemma's scarred voice, wandering and confused, ask into the blackness "Anyone there?"

Slowly, one by one, people began replying - me first, then a quiet Mackenzie, a confused Jordan, and then a loud Ethan. Vent had woken up later than all of us (I suspect he was hit over the head harder than us as well). Gemma, who was usually calm in dangerous situations, had flipped her cool after the first hour. I could hear the occasional sob escape her. I had tried moving around, but I couldn't get far without hitting some kind of wall - one that I couldn't see.

"Maybe we're all just dreaming," Vent offered.

"What, so now our brains have interconnected?" snapped Ethan.

I heard Jordan sigh. "Who knows."

I don't know how much time passed, how many times I counted up to sixty, how long Gemma cried almost silently for, but after all of us had lapsed into an unstable quiet, I heard the first sound that didn't come from us.

"Are you sure?"

The voice was muffled, as if it was coming from behind a door. I strained my ears, and hoped that the others had heard as well and were doing the same.

"Of course I'm sure," somebody spat back. Again, the sound was unclear, like I was hearing it from behind glass.

After a short silence, the original voice replied. "So we begin now."

It wasn't a question; it was a statement. A shiver ran through me even though I had no idea what they were talking about.

A pause. Then, "Yes."

Suddenly, the world became blindingly bright.

It took a short while until my eyes finally adjusted to the light. Then I realised that it wasn't actually that bright - this place was very dimly lit. I took in my surroundings as fast as I could; red - no, nether brick floors, walls, and ceiling. The walls were tall, and the room was large but relatively empty. A large set of doors on the opposite wall seemed the only way in or out. I felt a cold terror start forming inside me.

Then, everything became detailed; I was in some kind of prison, with some kind of almost completely transparent trapping me inside a square roughly three by three squares. With a sick feeling growing inside my stomach, I noticed that Gemma, Vent, Ethan, Jordan and Mackenzie were also in the same kind of boxes. Ethan looked plain angry, while Mackenzie had her eyes shut and Gemma's lips were pursed. Jordan and Vent both looked dumbfounded.

They were all looking at something. I turned to see what, and immediately wished I hadn't, because I had a deep feeling that my eyes weren't lying to me.

The prisons were arranged in a semicircle, with one box strangely empty.  I was in the centre, with Jordan on my left, and Mackenzie to my right. All of them were facing two figures who were watching us.

One I didn't recognize. But the other, I did. In fact, I knew her quite well.

Ethan was the first to speak. Or rather, yell.

"What the hell?" 

Then Gemma.

"Clare . . . ?"

Then a string of curses from Vent.

Then Jordan's strangled gasp.

Mackenzie stayed silent.

I didn't take my eyes off her.

"Be done with them quickly," said the stranger, his voice cold and dismissive. Even though I knew I should be analysing him, searching for an escape, doing something useful, I couldn't stop watching her.

 I've read a lot of books. In most of them, whenever the protagonist is betrayed, they feel anger and see red; but not me. I just feel a heavy sense of disappointment, of sadness, of loss. I'm seeing grey.

The stranger walked away, through the large doors, and out into another corridor. I remained focussed on her; her strong stance, dark clothing, blank expression. I can't put what I'm feeling into words; it's almost like a dull, aching numbness.

Ethan was the first to speak up. "Clare, for the last damn time - what the hell is going on?"

Then it strikes me. Ethan doesn't understand. He doesn't realise that she's not on our side.

Clare shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Ethan. I really am. But I can't change this."

"You b*tch!" Mackenzie suddenly screamed, startling me as well as the others, breaking out from her previous frightened shell. "You damn b-"

"Oh, shut up, Mackenzie." Clare huffed. "Complaining's gonna get you nowhere."

"Clare," Gemma said, and her voice was the same icy calm of the calculative girl I knew well, "what happened?"

Clare turned to her, and returned her cool stare. "Nothing you need to know about."

"I disagree," yelled Vent. "We seem to be stuck in the middle of it."

"Enough!" Clare screamed, effectively silencing us. I don't know what it was that was different about her; maybe it was the guarded expression, or her chilling voice, or simply the fearful situation we're stuck in. Whatever it was, it scarred us all.

"Look, I don't want to hurt you guys." Clare's voice was soft and even a little bit sing-song, as if she were speaking to children. "I just need to do my job. And if you guys just obey and listen to me, then we can get this over with quickly and painlessly."

"Sure," Ethan scoffed. "Look, Clare, great prank and all, but joke's over now. What's going on?"

Clare fixed him with a cold stare. And I watched as Ethan slowly figured it out - as he slowly registered that dark feeling of betrayal. I saw his face fall. But unlike me, the colour that was radiating from him was red; fiery, passionate, flaming.

"You've got to be kidding me! Clare, c'mon, you're obviously joking around-"

His voice was cut off with a scream.

He fell to the ground, yelling his heart out, clutching his head. But it barely lasted a few seconds; then he stood, rose tall, and stared straight ahead. I heard horror-filled gasps from Vent and Gemma and Jordan. Mackenzie hissed in anger.

Ethan's eyes, which were usually a strange shade of purple, had been drained of colour all together. They were white.

An empty, emotionless, terrifying white.

I watched as Clare ignored my friends' pleas and their begging for her to stop this - this betrayal. One by one, each of them fell prey to whatever Clare was doing to them; they stopped their screaming, and their eyes turned soulless.

Once Clare had reached me, everyone else was straight-backed and silent, staring at nothing.

Clare gave me a wistful, yet cold smile. "Sorry, Emra. Really."

"Sorry doesn't take back anything." My voice was hoarse and rough, and it felt like I was choking.

"Look, since I've already done this to you once, your brain is going to automatically know that the Mind Manipulation is a bad thing and will try to block me out straight away, so it's going to take longer than the others."

I tried to block out the memories of my friends screaming in agony whilst Clare abused their minds. Then, with a shock, I said "You've done it to me before?"

She gave me a blank look . "How do you think I got you to stab Zach during a supposedly-safe training match?"

I choked a little on the air around me. "That was you?" Then, quickly, I added, "how did I not notice?"

"You were fighting. The adrenaline meant I could slip into your mind and out quickly and easily, without you even realising what just happened."

Then she did something strange; Clare sighed. And it wasn't out of annoyance or impatience, it was a sad sound, the sound of someone giving up, a sound that signified an aching sadness.

"I'm sorry."

Her voice was only a slight murmur, but I heard it nonetheless. But before I could even reply, the world became black, and pain was the only thing I could, see, feel, sense.

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- Nya's POV -

I tried warning him, but by the time he realised, it was too late. My enhanced Wielder senses meant that I could see through the wall, and I had seen my friends lining up a fraction of a second before the walls lightened again.

They were all white-eyed, mindless and solider-like minions to Clare and her damn powers. It was a stab to the heart to see each of them like that; so helpless and so needing to be helped. A short burst of panic exploded inside me when I saw the deadly weapons in their grasps, and then the feeling blossomed when I saw the sword at Zach's feet. I turned and stole a glance at Herobrine's twisted smile.

He wants Zach to fight them.

My thoughts travelled back to that night next to the Arena; the night where my sister took her last breath. I looked over to where Clare was standing. She had her eyes shut tightly, and her hands were on either side of her head, her index fingers pressed into her temples. She was concentrating on controlling six people with every single ounce of her being.

If I could somehow break that concentration . . .

Acting on impulse, I ran over to where Clare was standing, but before I could reach her, I slammed into an invisible wall, throwing myself backwards. My head was pounding, but I ignored it, getting up and bashing on the wall, trying desperately to gain Clare's attention - even for a split second. It must have taken a long time to gather the control over that many minds, and even longer to get them back a second time.

I stopped beating against the wall and studied her face for a moment. What I had thought was deep concentration seemed to be something else as well - with a jolt, I realised she was in pain.

Of course she would be. You can't use your SE on that large of a scale and not feel the cost of it.

A thought ran through my mind; why would she go through all this pain, all this betrayal and suffering, when all she needs to do is stop fighting on Herobrine's side?

I ignored it. It was too late for Clare to retrace her steps, and Zach needed my help.

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- Zach's POV -

(I wanted to include a bit of an action scene)

I reached the sword just in time, seizing it my the hilt and swinging it up to protect my face against Gemma's strong blow. I knocked her blade away, unbalancing her for a moment, and used that time to move back and stand on my feet.

I scanned all six of the people in front of me. Now that my eyes had fully adjusted to the abrupt change in light, I noticed that their eyes were the colour of nothingness - a glowing white, an empty shade. Possessed by Clare, I thought, and hoped Nya had realised too, because with six other people wielding swords right in front of me I couldn't turn around a check on her.

Luckily, I had trained with Emerald - I knew her strengths and weaknesses by heart. She uses her small frame and light feet to dodge strong blows and jab in her own, until eventually she wins out. She uses speed.

I had watched Gemma train a few times. From one look at her, you could tell she was strong. And I knew from observing a couple of her sessions that she uses brute strength to overpower her opponents.

However, since Vent, Mackenzie and Jordan are all in the archery class, I had no idea what to expect from them.

Emerald sprinted forwards, and right before she collided head on onto the edge of my raised sword, she dodged neatly to the right, slashing her blade at my knee level. Luckily, I had seen the move coming, and had swung the weapon down right before it made impact, blocking her brutal attack. With a growing sense of horror,  I realised that Emerald was stronger than she was before - side effects of the Wielder possession. And that meant that Gemma was going to be even more difficult.

Emerald recovered quickly. She sprinted towards me again, and this time spun clockwise beside me with such speed that I didn't have enough time to block all of her sword's impact. She managed to leave a long cut in my side.

Fortunately, like every fight I have ever been in, adrenaline starts acting. It blocks out the pain, slows down time, improves accuracy. Emerald and I spar almost like dancers, dodging side to side. Then Gemma comes in, surprising me, and uses the flat side of the blade to hit me along the floor so hard that I skid several blocks and slam against the wall. My head knocks against it, and my vision becomes blurry.

When the mist clears, I realise that Gemma is swinging down with her sword; I quickly roll out of the way and spare myself a thought; where are the other three? Then I hear a whoosh through the air, and a slight chime as an arrow buries itself into the wall just next to my head.

Okay, know I know where they are.

Two platforms had risen from the ground. On top of one were Jordan and Mackenzie, while Vent was on the other one. All are wielding bows.

Great, now I have to watch my flanks and the air.

I stood quickly, blocking another of Gemma's remarkably and impossibly strong attacks. But she kept swinging at me; I have to knock her out of the battle.

Okay, plan B.

I ran, aiming for the slight gap between Emerald and Gemma. They instinctively crossed their swords over each other's, hoping to block me, but I leaned back and skidded (rather ungracefully) through the small gap against the edges of the blades and the ground, using my own sword to knock theirs aside as I skidded under them.

As fast as I could manage, I spun around, stood, and just as Gemma was turning to face me again, her ponytail flying in a circle, I slammed the flat side of my sword into the side of her head, and watched her crumble to the ground without a protest. I felt an arrow fly past me, and before I could turn to face Emerald, I felt a sharp jab at my other side, effectively breaking through the adrenaline rush and causing me to gasp in pain. I recovered quickly, though, spinning in an arch and crashing my sword against Emerald's. Even with slightly raised strength, she was no match for the force of my swing, and her sword was knocked out of her hand and skidded along the floor, making metallic clings as it got further away. Emerald seemed slightly dazed, and in her confusion, I leaped, knocking her to the ground. She grunted softly as she slammed against the cold brick floor, and I quickly raised my sword to her neck before she could move an inch. I watched Vent, Mackenzie and Jordan at the corner of my eye; they were stationary, which was surprising and a little bit off-putting.

I heard a deep chuckle, and (against my instincts) looked up. Herobrine was floating in mid-air, and his features displayed enjoyment.

"Well done, Dare." he said, and his voice was like an icy waterfall. "You managed to take out two of my minions."

"Wasn't that hard," I spat. "I just pretended they were you. And don't call them minions."

Herobrine smiled. "Well, since they are under one of my Wielders' control, they belong to me."

"No," I counter, "they belong to Clare."

"Who belongs to me." Herobrine stated in a slightly defensive tone. Then he smiled again.

"Time for round two."

With a sharp wave of his hand, I heard a slight crackle; I turned to the archers to the right-above of me, and internally groaned.

Their bows had been enchanted, and all three were aiming fire-lit arrows at me.

Let's do this.

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"Damn it," I cursed under my breath. Pounding on the wall had done no good at all, and Zach's situation was getting worse. I was running out of ideas.

I heard the smallest, almost completely silent pained groan from beside me. When I turned, I realised that Clare was now trembling, and beats of sweat were running down her forehead. She was biting down on her lip so hard it began to bleed. She probably didn't even realise.

I sucked in a deep breath. "Herobrine!" I screamed, and I  actually seized his attention. "You have to stop this!"

He flew closer to me, and then said "And why would I need to do that?"

I gestured to Clare. "Because she's dying, for Notch's sake!"

"So what?" He shrugged. "Once I've possessed Zach, I won't have a need for her anymore."

"I thought you said she was one of the most powerful Wielders you had ever come across?"

"She is. But she isn't perfected. She can think for herself, and that makes her useless." Then he turned away from me, and I fought the urge to scream at him again.

"Round two's almost over," he said, almost to himself. "that was faster than expected."

I glanced at Zach through the transparent wall, terror started creeping inside me quickly when I saw that he was lying on the floor, covered in blood. Emerald stood over him, and her sword was blazing with fire. Vent, Jordan and Mackenzie stood on their podiums, flaming arrows poised.

"Zach!" I screamed out, to no one in particular.

"Relax, he's fine. Just a little wounded. It's hard to battle against fire, Nya." said Herobrine, sounded exasperated.

Emerald moved away from Zach just as Herobrine approached him. Zach was frighteningly limp, covered in dark scorch marks and redness. Herobrine stood over him, as if inspecting the bloody boy on the floor.

"Permanent possession is a little painful, I'm afraid," he began saying. "I have to sever the bond between your body and your soul. But think of it this way: it's the end of the revenge for you."

And with those words ringing in my ears and probably ringing in Zach's too, Herobrine raised one hand over him, and slowly a white light began to form in his palm, growing stronger and brighter every second, until Zach was surrounded in a bright glow.

And all I could hear were his screams.

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[THIS ONE IS QUITE IMPORTANT]

Oh no! Will Zach get possessed? Will he make it? I promise to update soon!

 Okay, several IMPORTANT things:

How many of you have instagrams? I was thinking of starting up my own, probably called @the_wielder_chronicles (I'll get to that later). I'd post updates on planning (third book coming up ;), notices, and any other bits and pieces, like fanart, notes on particular stories, any questions from readers, or fanworks (lots more, but you get the idea). Would you guys follow me?

Okay, another IMPORTANT thing: I was thinking about renaming my books. There will most likely be 3, and I'd like to name the series "The Wielder Chronicles". So like, Minecraft: Herobrine's Legend would be renamed Herobrine's Legend (The Wielder Chronicles Book One) or something like that. What do you think?

That's about it - no QOTD, just answer the questions I put into the IMPORTANT notices above!

And thank you guys for all sticking around :)

- Jazz