NOTHING HELPS YOU MAKE FRIENDS LIKE NEARLY DYING!

Don't trust them. They want to hurt you.

That was the first thing that ran through my head.

Where was I? I opened my eyes a tad and saw white, shiny walls and a dark, purple bricked ceiling. Maybe the lighthouse? Probably so. I wondered how I had gotten there. I tried to get up. Pain overtook my body and my head started throbbing. "Ow," I whimpered.

Moving my head as little as possible, I scanned the room. Yup, this was definitely the lighthouse. I was laying on a couch with soft pillows propping me up. There was a small black table in the middle of the room that was cluttered with empty snack containers, medical supplies, and a huge, thick book that I definitely did not own.

Suddenly I felt a tickle in my nose and sneezed very loudly, which did nothing for my headache. Then I heard shifting and a yawn. There was another person in the room. I courageously dived underneath a blanket and laid there, deathly still.

"Hello?" said a slightly sleepy voice.

I sat quivering slightly under the blanket, clutching my knife.

I heard the person get up, moving towards me. The footsteps stopped right in front of me and I felt a hand poke the blanket. I gasped audibly. Wow, Alex, I scolded myself mentally. Such quiet, many stealth.

"Are you awake?'' asked the voice. I didn't respond. The voice was definitely male. It wasn't particularly deep, and it had slightest traces of a british accent. It sounded weirdly familiar. It was kind, not harsh, but I still didn't uncover myself. I was scared. I had no idea who this person was! What were his motives? Did he know who I was? Why did he save me? Had he touched me? Had he drugged me? Did he.. I didn't know who this person was at the time, okay? I was freaking out.

"Are you okay? My name is Avery." said the now named-voice. I continued ignoring him.

"Don't be afraid. Come on out." encouraged 'Avery' kindly. "Are-are you afraid of me?" His voice cracked.

"Please come out. I need to look at your wound."

I finally spoke. "Who are you?"

"Avery."

I considered saying "No way!".

"No, who are you? Why did you save me?" I asked tremulously. I needed to know more about him before I could trust him.

"Well, I saved you because, well, you were dying. Good people typically don't leave other people to die. It's not right. So I took you in here and started trying to heal you. But then, while I was bandaging you up and such, I, ah, saw something." His tone made me nervous

"What did you see? Wait- did you take off my shirt!?" I threw off the blanket, jumped up, and pointed my knife at him. I know I was overreacting, but my mind went to the worst. I was told by some voice . I looked so threatening, I'm sure. I was extremely lightheaded and dizzy so I could hardly stand up straight, and he was half a head taller than me. Still, I held my gaze.

I looked at him. I recognized him, but I didn't know where from. He was about 5'7, so pretty tall. Taller than me, at least. He wasn't big or muscular, but he radiated a different, quieter type of power. He had rather pale skin that was scribbled on in Sharpie on several places. His hands and arms had doodles and words written on them. His indigo eyes shone with curiosity and knowledge and pulled at me like a magnet. His hair was curly and looked like dark chocolate. It was slightly ruffled, like he had just woken up. Which was true, of course. He was wearing a worn navy blue jacket that had about a million pockets, some of which looked like he had added them himself. He had on a black shirt that said "BOOKS=BEST", black skinny jeans and fuzzy socks with cats on them. He seemed very nervous and concerned.

"What-no! No, no, no, no, no o-of course not! That's extremely- no, I didn't-" sputtered Avery, looking very abashed. He looked absolutely terrified, which is understandable for someone who's got a knife pointed at them. "No, I only barely lifted your shirt so that I could bandage your stomach! Don't worry. No, I saw your necklace," he explained.

I could feel my face blanch. I staggered and looked at Avery fearfully. "You....saw.. that?"

"Mmhmm." He nodded. My hand went to my chest. Slowly, carefully, I pulled out the necklace I had had since I came to Valkommen. It had an Eye of Ender on it, and in the center, the scales of justice. It was about as Ianitee as you could get, and if an anti-Ianitee found it, I was in trouble. Seeing me look at my necklace, he said, "Yeah, that one."

"I- umm- it's nothing-" I stammered nervously.

"I don't think that being an Ianitee is nothing." Avery stated calmly.

I could feel the little blood left in my face drain out. I couldn't read his face. He just stared at me blankly. I knew that I was done for. My secret was out. There was no way he would help me now- wait.

"If you saw this, if you knew who I was- what I was-... Why did you still help me?" I questioned him, confused. If he was a Mianitee and I was secretly an Ianitee, he should have taken me back to the town, had me treated and healed, then exiled.

But he didn't.

Avery had decided to stay with me, a Ianitee girl he barely knew, and heal me. Why?

Avery looked rather nervous. He inhaled and said slowly, "Because I couldn't-I couldn't leave a fellow Ianitee to die."

A fellow Ianitee....

"Wait-wait....... Fellow Ianitee? Fellow?" I gasped, my brain moving slowly. I wasn't sure that I had understood him correctly. A fellow Ianitee? Did that mean..

Avery started to relax a bit more. "Yes. A fellow Ianitee. I couldn't leave you to die. I knew that I had to save you. It wouldn't be right any other way."

The puzzle was coming together rapidly, though not as quickly as it probably should have. I was delirious and not thinking straight. "You-you mean- you-" I stammered.

"My gosh, don't you get it?" Avery gave me a slightly impatient look. "Yes. I also follow m'lady Ianite."

I gaped at him. All I could think was 'How many times have I ordered muffins from this guy?' And after all this time, he was... Like me? He also followed M'lady Ianite?

He showed me a watch that had an eye of ender on it. "See? Also, I have... This," he said in a slightly over dramatic tone. He pulled a necklace out of his shirt that had a small, shiny model of Ianite's scales of justice. It was quite pretty.

"So you really do..." I trailed off. My head suddenly felt like a long needle was being inserted through my eyes. "Oww," I yelped.

"Careful," Avery warned me, sitting me back down on the couch. "You're still not fully well. You've got several deep bruises, possibly some minor brain damage, nicks and cuts all over your body, and, oh yeah, a fractured tibia and a broken arm. I'm pretty sure it's not a very bad break, though, and your tibia should heal soon enough. Here, drink this, then just close your eyes and relax," Avery advised, handing me a potion bottle with some reddish liquid inside. It smelled like cherry. I downed it and recognized the fizzy, crisp taste of a healing potion. Then I stood back up, despite my protesting everything.

Avery fussed. "No, no, no. You need rest. Please sit down. I can talk to you still, just close your eyes." I ignored him and continue standing.

"No," I disregarded his instructions. I started swaying slightly and my head racked with pain, but I stood firm. "I want answers. And I'm going to get them. From you. Tell me now, why I've never known you were an Ianitee," I demanded.

Avery straightened up and looked at me straight in the eye. "Sit down now and I will answer you," he commanded me. My bones, my head, my everything hurt and was screaming for me to obey him and sit. My mind, however, said, "Stay where you are. He'll break eventually, then you can rest."

"Not until I get my answers," I said stubbornly. "Why didn't I know?" I repeated through gritted teeth. My body was burning and aching, but I felt the need to prove to him that I was stronger. That I don't back down. I thought that he would finally crumple and spill, seeing that I wasn't going to heed his instructions. I thought that he would give in.

But he didn't.

He just stood there, staring at me. It was infuriating. He shook his head and continued looking at me, meeting my angry gaze with an unrelenting one. He looked almost bored, as though he was saying "I could do this all day."

"Answer me," I said loudly, ignoring the spots dancing around my eyes.

"Not until you sit down and rest," Avery repeated himself. He gently pushed me back onto the couch. I tried to stand up again, but I was too weak. Avery looked satisfied and sat down on an armchair near me and started pouring potions on my wounds. He worked in silence for a few minutes, then finally answered my question.

"Well, it's quite simple. I thought that you were a Mianitee," Avery explained, checking my bandages. "That's why I didn't tell you. After all, you never told me that you followed Ianite. Besides, it's not as though you ever asked. There was also I didn't want to let anyone else know that I followed the Lady of Justice, unless I knew for sure that they could be trusted. Such as other Ianitees, and I know a Mianitee who's okay with Ianitees and Dianitees."

My mouth hung open for a second, then I closed it. There were Mianitees who knew that there were people who followed Ianite and were okay with it? How come I had never met them or knew about them?

"Who? Wait, there are Dianitees, too? Who are they? Who are the other Ianitees? Do you guys do anything together, like a club?" I opened my mouth to ask more questions when Avery put his finger to my lips.

"Calm down. I will answer any question you have best I can. Although, I don't quite understand why " Avery said, smiling slightly. "But first..." He paused for a moment. Avery closed his eyes and started waving his hand rhythmically over my left leg.

"What are you doing?" I asked, not in a curious way. More like "Why the heck are you doing that strange thing?"

Avery didn't respond. He just continued waving his hand. I thought back to what he had told me about my injuries. "What did I injure again? I forgot." My memory wasn't at its best, and I wasn't listening properly when he was explaining it all to me.

"Well, you fractured your tibia, and-"

"My what?" I shook my head, confused. I didn't even know that there was a section of the body called the tibia, much less what it was.

"Your tibia," Avery repeated, thinking that I hadn't heard him. Seeing the look on my face, he clarified, "Your tibia is a leg bone, below your femur," he explained, gently touching the long part of my left leg, below my knee. I smarted at the pain.

"You also broke your right arm," Avery went on, rubbing a salve on one of my cuts.

"I WHAT?!?" I shouted. 'How does one break their arm without noticing?' I thought to myself. I mean, a fractured whatever-it-is is one thing. But breaking your arm is kind of a big deal.

Avery jumped back, startled by my sudden shouting. "You broke your arm," he restated matter-of-factly. "Please don't shout, and stay still," He started swaying his hand over my leg again, and this time, he muttered something under his breath. He closed his eyes and a look of deep concentration came over his face. So naturally, I interrupted.

"What are you doing, a magic spell?" I scoffed at him, even though I secretly thought that if he actually was doing magic, I would probably fall off the couch in excitement.

Avery's words grew louder. He continued ignoring me (which I was getting used to), but I was able to hear him now, sort of.

"Obscreo, domine Ianite pulchra dea iustitiae cura vulnus. Facere iudicum,*" Avery murmured. I could kind of hear what he was saying.

"Close the wound?" I asked. I understood that it was Latin, I just couldn't really make out his mutters.

Avery paused, then ceased the hand waving and bowed his head, his eyes still closed. "Obsecro, domine meus," His brow furrowed slightly, as though he was confused. "Quid est? Potes, non potestis?" Avery muttered in a slightly concerned voice. "Quid est?" he said again. I knew what he was saying. He had said 'What do you mean? You can do it, can you not? What do you mean?'

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean?'? Who're you talking to?" I badgered him.

Avery actually spoke to me this time. "I am talking to Lady Ianite, so please be quiet," Avery pled, ever patient. I understood that this was important and watched as his lips moved soundlessly. A few minutes had passed when Avery finally looked up. He looked worried and kind of afraid.

"What is it?" I questioned, wondering what the look on his face meant. I was sure it meant not good.

"She-she says- she says that-" Avery stuttered.

"Spit it out," I hurried him impatiently.

"She says that she can't heal you," Avery's words came out rushed, like he was ripping off a band-aid.

"What do you mean she can't heal me?" I questioned. Why would I need to be healed by Ianite?

Avery took a deep breath and told me "Alex, I kind of didn't tell you about all of your injuries. Your broken arm.... Remember how I said that it was a minor break? Well, I was wrong. It's serious. Very serious."

"Okay, but that's not life threatening. I can heal from a broken arm." I said to him. I know this because I've broken it a few times.

"But Alex, that's not all," Avery told me in a serious tone. "You have shrapnel inside of your body. Like, a lot of it. I've removed most of it, but I can't get it out of some places. You had some in your head, which is why you have minor brain damage. A part of your brain is injured, I think it's your hypothalamus,"

"My what now?" I asked. Why did this guy know so many parts of the body and what their proper names are!?

"Your hypothalamus is the part of your brain that controls your hormones, like your sleep hormones, your hormones that make you hungry and thirsty, and other hormones that I have forgotten at the moment,"

"I can't stay here and nurse you back to health, for several reasons. One, I don't have the time. Trust me, I would rather help you than do school, but I have responsibilities. Two, I don't have the supplies. I've done an okay job fixing you up, but you need serious medical attention. I don't think that I can hide you in my house either, and you can't go to the regular hospital, they might find your necklace. So, you'd need someone else's help, like a deity. Unfortunately, Ianite says that she is not able to heal you without a sort of ritual. So we'd need to go back to town and perform a ritual to heal you. It wouldn't be that difficult, the actual ritual itself is fairly easy. The problem would be that the only place we could do it would be in the church, and this is where our problem begin. We'd have to sneak ourselves into the church in the dead of night, get the ritual set up, heal you, fix everything back to it's original place, and sneak back out before morning. That's going to be hard," He finished up grimly.

"Not to mention the fact that we have to get the supplies. Which won't be THAT hard, but still," He added, running his fingers through his messy hair.

"It'll be fine. We can do it. I'm pretty sneaky, so I think I can get us in and out of the church," I reassured him. "In fact, I already have a way in mind," I was making up the plan of action in my head, which involved climbing trees and jumping from roof to roof.

"Yes, but still, how will we get you there?" he asked.

"Um, we walk?" I said sarcastically.

"No, you can't walk, and I'm not nearly strong enough to carry you. I could always go back and get some horses... But that would require me leaving you for a few days!" he said frustratedly, tugging at his hair.

I looked at him, "You know I've been surviving by myself for most of my life, right? I can handle being left alone for a few days,"

"Yes, but still! What if something happens!? What if I'm not allowed to come back!? What if they question why I'm bringing two horses? UGH!" Avery shouted suddenly, throwing his head back in frustration.

"It'll be alright," I said in a soothing voice. My mood went from being slightly sarcastic to Avery and in mild pain to feeling bad about how I had treated this boy who was trying so hard to help me-and still in mild pain. "We'll figure something out,"

"Thanks, Alex," He sighed, relaxing a bit. "Wait," Avery looked up at me, and I could see puzzlement in his eyes. "Why are you comforting me? You're the one who's got a broken arm! You're the one who's injured! I should be telling you that everything's going to be okay, not the other way around,"

I said, "Because you're the one who's stressed out, and I was trying to make you feel better,"

Avery smiled slightly. "Thanks," he said again. "Now drink this," he told me. He handed me a potion bottle that was filled with a thick liquid that I didn't recognize. It was a dark bluey-greenish color, and looked like it had small minerals in it. It smelled like grapes.

"What's this?" I asked curiously. "Trying to poison me?" I joked.

Avery smiled and exhaled through his nose. "Yes, I am trying to poison you. You've foiled all of my plans!" He grinned wickedly.

"Oh no! Avery, how dare you!" I exclaimed dramatically.

"Yes! Nyeheheheh!" Avery cackled in a high pitched voice.

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" I trilled. Avery laughed even harder. "You like Undertale?" He asked me. I nodded and said in my best Papyrus impression (which is very good, if I do say so myself), "Yes, I love it. Now tell me, human! What is this potion?"

"It's a special brew that one of my friends gave me," He told me. He must've seen the look on my face, because he quickly reassured me. "Don't worry; the friend who gave it to me is a potions expert. She also had it approved by Mr. Rickman," Barry Rickman is Valkommen's official expert on potions. He runs the town potions shop, and has always been nice to me. He once gave me three regen potions for telling him about some shady people I had seen sneaking into his shop with some.... Well let's just say questionable ingredients. Anyways, Avery gave me the potion and I sipped at it hesitantly. It tasted like grapes and leaves.

"It's supposed to help clear your mind and make you more relaxed, according to her," Avery informed me as I drank. Once I had finished, he took the potion bottle from me and put it on the table gently.

"Now, question time," I said seriously, attempting to sit up a bit straighter.

"Okay. What do you want to know?" Avery asked. He seemed to be a bit more comfortable since our jokes about poisoning me. Strange way to relax, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

"Well, first of all, I'd like to know who else is an Ianitee. Or Dianitee. Or who I can trust," I asked him.

"Well, the person who brewed the potion that you just drank, she's a Dianitee. And then there's Daimon, he's Dianite. Also apparently another girl named Isabelle. Daimon told me. Then there's Erin and Piper, they're both Ianitees," Avery said, thinking.

"Wait, who?" I asked. "Erin and Piper?"

"Yeah," he said. "Erin has long, bright red hair, and Piper is the one who has the feathers in her hair. She has a nice voice,"

"Oh, okay, I know who you're talking about now," I nodded. Erin was typically found at the local Shake Shack, and Piper was usually hanging out with her friends. I knew both of them. They were pretty nice. "Anyone else?"I asked.

"Oh, yeah, there's Lizzie, the one with the pink wavy hair who's always talking about cats and stuff, there's also... Oh yeah! Lilly, the one who's always wearing baseball cap and she has super long black hair. And..." Avery struggled to think. "Oh! There's also and one other person... Rowan! The tall girl with the long, light brown hair."

"Then the Mianitees that people like us can trust are Amanda-"

"Who?" I asked. I knew who pretty much everyone else was, but I couldn't put a face to Amanda. "Shy girl? Blonde highlights?"

"Yeah, that's her," Avery confirmed. "There's Savannah, with the long red hair, and yeah. That's it, I think"

"Woah," I said. I was kind of shocked that there were so many. I also felt strangely relieved and excited. I now had someone to trust with my secret, someone who shared my secret. We could talk about Ianite, and maybe even become friends. Friends, I thought, savoring the word. I decided that I liked that idea.

"So Avery, do you already have the supplies to heal me?" I asked him.

He looked through his numerous pockets, then in a black and navy blue bookbag. "Yeah, all I need is a bit of redstone,"

I laughed humorlessly. "Well, I have enough redstone to power the entire town. How much do you need?"

His eyes lit up. "Really? You have redstone? That's great! I was afraid that I'd need to go mining for it, but you have some! Fantastic! I need two blocks, if that's okay."

I went to grab my bag and realized that I didn't know where it was. "Where's my bag?" I asked.

"Oh," Avery said, crossing the room and going into a different part of the house; I think that it was the kitchen. He returned moments later with my bag.

"Thanks," I said as he handed it to me. Ow. Pain shot through my right arm like a rod.

"Remember, broken arm," he reminded me.

"Yeah," I winced. I had only broken my arm twice before, and I was not excited to experience it again. The first time I had broken it was when I was 7, when I fell out of a tree. The second time had been when I was 9, when I went roller-skating for the first time. Both times it had hurt a lot, but I had gotten proper medical attention almost immediately. This time, however, I had been healed by a boy who probably wasn't much older than I was with no real medical experience. At least,I didn't think he did. Who knows? Anyone who knows that much about anatomy probably knows more than your basic first aid.

"How old are you?" I asked him. He looked up from his bag.

"I'm sixteen. You're fourteen, right?" he asked.

I nodded. "How do you know so much about first aid and body parts and stuff? How did you manage to get all the stuff for the ritual? Also, how long have I been out? Has it been couple of days? How did you get the medical stuff to heal me?" I asked him, questions tumbling out of my mouth like a dripping faucet that has just fully been turned on.

"Well, I pay attention in school, that's how I know so much about anatomy. I also have read quite a few medical books and survival guides and whatnot. I kind of want to be doctor or a healer. You've been unconscious for about three days now. And I always keep first aid stuff with me. As for the ritual, it doesn't really require anything complicated. It's not like 'Go forth and get the hair from a golden goat and the purest drop of water in the world and the hair of a valkyrie' or anything. It just requires some redstone, netherwart, a healing potion, and some purple flowers," he told me.

"Oh, great!" I said, brightening. "I had been expecting for it to be like you said, like the most obscure stuff ever."

"Well, is there anything else you'd like to talk about?' he asked me kindly, setting down his bag.

"I dunno," I said. "What do normal people talk about?"

***random subject change to undertale***

He grinned. "I like Paypyrus,"

"ASGORE!" I said in a threatening voice. Then I laughed. "I'm actually not that surprised. You seem like the type that would like. You seem like a pacifist. Me, I like Undyne,"

He blinked. "Fish Lady? That's cool. She's pretty awesome. And, yes, I played the pacifist route. What about you?"

"I played neutral at first, but then went back and did the pacifist route, and..." We talked about Undertale for a while, then moved on to books and movies we liked. Avery told me that he liked to pretend that he's a character in his favorite book series. I told him about how I sometimes pretend that I'm the really awesome main character of a novel and that I have a sidekick named Ava and there's a villain named Vector that we have to defeat and- Sorry. Got sidetracked. We told each other bad jokes and puns and got to know each other better. It was quite lovely, I discovered, having a friend.

"So, when are we going to head out?" I asked him finally.

His eyes widened. "Oh, yeah, I completely forgot. How am I going to get you out of here?"

"I can walk," I told him, attempted to demonstrate how well I could walk, and promptly fell over. Behold, Alex, the most graceful being on Tutoria, I thought bitterly.

Avery didn't laugh, which I guess shows how much we had bonded over the last hour. Or maybe he's just a nice person who doesn't laugh when people fall over, unlike me.

"Oh dear, are you okay? I told you, you're not strong enough to walk," he fussed.

"I told you, I'm fine," I growled. I like being able to take care of myself. "Just... get me a cane or something,"

"No." Avery spoke firmly. "We are going to find another way to get you back into town. One that doesn't require you walking for long distances." I looked into his eyes and saw fierce determination. I knew at once that it was absolutely useless to try to convince him otherwise.

"Okay." I blinked. "You don't have a horse, you said?"

"No," he shook his head. Then he sat straight up. "But I have a friend who does! I'll be right back," he promised me, then dashed off into another room. I wondered who this friend was, and how Avery was going to convince them to come to the ice spikes biome with a horse for him and the wounded town messenger girl.

Avery came back about ten minutes later looking pleased and satisfied. He told me that the friend would come as soon as he could.

"Who is this 'friend'?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, do you remember me telling you about a Dianitee named Daimon?"

I gulped involuntarily. "A Dianitee is coming to pick us up?" I don't know why I was nervous, actually. I guess I just don't fancy the idea of my savior being a follower of the god of chaos and fire. I wonder why.

"Umm, yes? It that a problem?" Avery inquired, knitting his eyebrows slightly in concern and confusion.

"Oh, sure. I mean, no- I mean, no, that's not a problem," I said hurriedly.

"Okay, good. Don't worry. Daimon's great- well, actually..." Avery seemed to give this some thought, which did nothing to comfort me. "Yeah, he's cool. Quite mischievous and rambunctious, though. One time, he... Never mind. He's my only friend who has a horse who I trust to help us. He's also bringing a friend."

"And who is this friend? Do you know them?" I asked.

"Yes, she's the girl who made you the potion. Does the name Diane Kimble ring a bell?" he asked. I nodded. I've seen her at the potions shop before. She seemed pretty cool, but I had never striked up a friendly conversation with her.

"Don't worry, they will help us." He spoke with absolute certainty. I wish I could be that confident about people.

"Okay," I nodded, shifting slightly.

"Now, all we have to do is wait," Avery sighed.

"Wanna play checkers?" I asked, gestured to a box sitting on the table.

"You're on."

------------------------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~-----------------------------------------------

After six consecutive rounds of being beaten by Avery, his phone dinged. His smile grew when he looked at the screen. "Fantastic! They say they'll be there in about ten minutes."

"Great," I said. I was curious about these people. Maybe

Avery was destroying me in another round of checkers when there was a loud knock at the door. He jumped up to get it. I waited on the couch anxiously. I heard a loud, male voice and a quieter female voice talking to Avery.

"She's in here," I heard Avery say as he led them into the sitting room. He appeared, along with two teenagers that I assumed were Diane and Daimon.

Diane was taller than Daimon and Avery and was well-built and strong. She had lovely brown skin and a few freckles on her visage. Her dark brown eyes were careful and calculating, but not in a shrewd and cold way. Her coal black hair was curly and had a few braids with little golden rings at the ends. She wore a maroon shirt with a black parka over top. She had on acid wash jeans and black snow boots. She seemed to give off an aura of quiet strength, like a thundercloud looming in the distance.

Daimon had dark, pointed face. His light brown skin was speckled with prominent freckles and moles and birthmarks. His black eyes shone bright with excitement. His hair was shiny and black, and had a dark red part that swooped over his face. His shoes were black and had bright red laces, double knotted. He wore a black belt and a black leather jacket that sort of gave off a 'rebel/bad boy' vibe. His shirt was black with some sort of puppet on it. It looked oddly familiar.

A/N Yeah that's all that I have. 

IT'S REALLY BAD AND CRINGEY BUT IT'S UNDER EDITING

PLEASE FEEDBACK

HYE (Hope you enjoyed!), my girs!