Not even gonna say anything.

Wait I just realized I need to do art for Sky and Cole. Which one do you guys want me to do first?

Barely edited.

K bye.

• • •

~ Lily ~

I didn't sleep well that night. Maybe it was the thought of Jess lying to me. Maybe it the monsters growling outside in the middle of the night.

The following morning, I was tasked to harvest the crops. It was quite easy, since it was almost automated. All I had to do was pull the lever and make sure all the food washed down into the hoppers. Nothing to it really.

But later in the day, after I read a book, fed the horses some carrots, walked along the beach, and ate lunch, I got really bored. I didn't know how Jess did it every day, but she managed to keep herself occupied. However, I was new to this kind of life (well technically I was new to life), so honestly I didn't really know how to keep busy. Although it could also be because Jess never let me do anything harder, like chop any trees for wood, or go mining, or even go back into town. She said it was "too dangerous". I just wished she would give me a chance.

So there I was, reading another book. It was actually a pretty good book about this guy named Adam who battled squids. I don't know why he hated them. They're actually pretty alright mobs. I saw some in the water when I was on the beach. Very derpy.

I closed the book and sat up in bed. I set the book on the table, got up, and walked out into the hall. There were a lot of paintings on the walls. I had asked Jess where she got them, and she said she had painted them herself. I really had to admire the time she must've put into them.

I was looking at one of a beautiful sunset, when I heard a hiss coming from the balcony. Afraid that it was a creeper or something, I instinctively backed up. I tried to put my hand on the wall for support, but I felt nothing.

I gasped and looked to see where my hand was touching.

It went through the painting.

I jerked it back, holding it and staring at the painted sunset. In curiosity, I slowly moving my hand into it again. It disappeared.

There was no way that should be possible. A painting is solid; I shouldn't be able to go through it.

Then I remembered a Minecraft trick that I heard people talking about in the town (pretty coincidental eh?). Paintings could be placed on signs to hide a secret room. But did Jess really have another room? And what would she be hiding?

Before I investigated further, I walked over to the balcony. The thing that was hissing was a lone spider that had not despawned. It was near the woods, but since it was daytime, it wasn't going to attack me if I got close. Which I didn't want to do.

I looked down the hall. Jess should be downstairs in the kitchen. Then, I moved my arm through the artwork, and ducked through.

On the other side was a small room, about 7 by 7, and 5 blocks high. Double chests were along the walls, and a ladder was going up in the middle.

"Woah..." I breathed out.

I walked over to a chest and opened it. Inside was a bunch of food, including meats and sweets (Best Rhymer 2016).

"Why do you need to go to the market to get more...?" I muttered.

I closed the chest and opened another one. There were four sets of iron armor. Why would she need armor?

I decided to open one more. But I wish I hadn't. Because inside was full of iron and diamond swords, axes, bows and arrows, even flint and steel.

I couldn't believe it. Jess was such a nice lady. I knew that she had to have some kind of protection, but it looked like she was going to train a small army.

There was a bunch more chests, and also the ladder. I didn't want to see any more, but I was really needing to know what was up the ladder.

I hesitated, and opened a chest. I grabbed a diamond sword out of it and hid it in my inventory. Then, I climbed up the ladder. There was a trapdoor at the top, so I pushed it open, and climbed into the new room.

It was a giant attic. The ceiling was the roof that slanted upward toward the middle. I could see the outline of tables, but not what was on them. There was a light switch above me, so I turned it on. It revealed a large portion of the room. On the tables were stacks of papers, brewing stands, some redstone stuff, and an iron block. To the left of me against the wall was a ladder that went up to a platform with some more chests.

I walked around, unsure of why she would keep this a secret. It was just a bunch of old stuff that she may or may not have stopped using. There was no point in hiding it.

Then I saw it.

There had been a wall separating a room from where I had entered before. Now that I was in the middle of the room, I could see both sides.

In the other room was a single pedestal made of Quartz pillars, topped with a Quartz block. In front of the pillar was a diamond sword leaning against it. And on the top...

Was a male head.

I immediately looked away, containing my nausea. I felt dizzy seeing the lifeless face of a deceased man.

I collapsed against a table, using it for support.

Why. Why did Jess have that? Did she actually kill a man? When did she do it? Was she not really the nice lady I thought she was? Is that why she was trying to shield me? Wait...

Was she planning to kill me next?

I swallowed and was about to go back down, when I heard a voice.

"Hello Lily."

• • •

~ Amber ~

About an hour later, I was in the living room, pacing. It was mostly for Sky's fate.

I ignored the dream like I usually did. It wasn't hard, since we had much more important things to think about.

There wasn't really any way to know what we were going to do with him for sure. Spawns were really rare. We didn't know if the government wanted to get a hold of them, or just leave them be. Then again, I didn't want the government to take away Sky. He deserved a normal life. So I didn't want to risk having them know about him. But I was also curious; I was hoping they'd have answers to the spawn probability decreasing.

I was about to weigh the consequences of each, when I heard a knock.

"Yo Amber! It's Sky."

I walked over to the door and opened it. Sky was standing there with a bashful look.

"Did I wake you?" He asked awkwardly.

Did it look like I just woke up? Was my hair all messy? "No. I was up."

"Oh." He looked around. "Nice place. Can I come in?"

If my Dad were there, he'd probably give Sky a million questions before he even let him stand in the doorway. But despite only knowing the blond for a day, I felt like we were close friends. "Sure. Come in." I had hoped he wasn't going to ask about his bandana. It may or may not have been stained so I may or may not have thrown it away.

He wandered into the house. "You're all alone?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "Everyone here is close together, so it's okay for me to be alone. It's kind of like my home away from home."

"Really? I have to be babysat by an old lady. Or am I babysitting her?"

I laughed, shutting the door. "Are you talking about Ms. Rose? I love her. She's awesome."

"Yeah, she's alright." He rubbed the back of his head. "But she said I'm going to be busy all day. Bunch of chores. She also said that I needed a weapon of my own, which surprised me."

I had a great idea. "Maybe I can take you to the mine sometime. Teach you the ropes."

"How long will it take?" Sky asked. "I'd love to, but I have to get back to her in about an hour."

"It'll take no time." I waved the question away. "We'll be back in 40 minutes tops."

He bit his lip, then nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

I walked over to my armor stand and grabbed the spare diamond pickaxe. I hadn't held it in a while; it felt good in my hand (sigh).

"Let's go." I said to Sky.

"I just said that." He frowned.

I opened the door. "Yeah, but I need to say it so it's a dramatic exit."

He laughed and walked through the doorway. "Fair enough."

• • •

I inhaled the dusty air of the mine. Now that I had a pick in my hand, and torches in the other, I felt powerful. I felt at home.

"First rule of the mine." I turned around to Sky, who was looking around. He stiffened like a soldier when I looked at him. "Don't be stupid and reckless."

"I thought the first rule was don't dig straight down."

I snorted. "No one ever listens to that rule. Plus, it is a part of the real one."

"Okay, I see your point. So how can we avoid being careless?" He leaned against the wall.

"Well for one, you have to keep your area lit up. You may like to mine in the dark, but you won't like it when you get blown up by a creeper. Second of all, you have to have good hearing. Listen for mobs or lava. Thirdly, it's recommended to have a mining partner if you're new to the job. Finally, do not act like a parkour king. If there's a jump, just build across. Most deaths in the cave are from falling."

"What if I'm being chased by a mob?" Sky raised his hand.

"If you listened to the other things, you wouldn't be chased."

"Okay Ms. Teacher." He took out the stone pick he got at the entrance. There were always chests half full of stone picks at each cave opening around the town in case people had nothing. "Can we begin now?"

"Yes. Let's go exploring." I walked down the tunnel.

• • •

We spent about 10 minutes walking around and mining ores. It may sound boring, but I always loved the thrill of wondering how many valuables I was going to get, or what other types of cave systems were around the corner.

We collected a lot of iron, though. Sky definitely had enough for a sword, and even a full set of iron armor. We even found some redstone.

I pulled out a torch and placed it on the wall. We were deep down now. Redstone and gold were spawning naturally. Pretty soon, we could have struck diamonds and emeralds.

"I'm having a lot of fun." Sky smiled at me.

"Good. I'm glad. This is usually my daily routine;" I said, "it never gets old. Always a new place to explore."

"That's actually pretty motivating." He raised his eyebrows. He mined a small vein of coal.

I tried not to laugh. We didn't really need coal. But he was enjoying it, so I let him.

In a way, he reminded me of Zach. Funny in a cute way, a little clumsy but lovable. He also reminded me of my brothers, being so protective.

"Woah..." Sky slowly said.

I turned back to him, and saw him staring in a hole in the wall. An orange light was cast on his face, brightening his eyes.

I walked over to him. "What is it?" I peered through the hole, and my jaw dropped slightly.

In front of us was a giant lava floored cave system that led up about 15 blocks. There were twists and turns that led out of the huge place. Thick columns and walls of stone made it seem more elaborate. All different kinds of ores were everywhere, from coal to emeralds. The whole thing seemed about 50 blocks across.

"Wow." I blinked. Then, I clapped Sky on the back. "Good work for your first mining trip."

• • •

Okay you know those cave systems that are like

The one that Amber and Sky found is like that, but a lot bigger.

But like wtf is going on in Lily's PoV? Is Jess a murderer? More importantly, is Lily her next victim? And will Sky ever find out about Amber's dream thing?

Also at the last second I realized that I kept spelling it Skye, so I had to go back and change it all lmao.

Rock on, my little rebels.

P.S. It's now officially 2200 words. Yay me banana