Huzzah! I'm alive and I'm not gone.

Alright, so you probably be all wondering, 'What the heck, why are you not posting for four months? Are you going to put this on hiatus?'

Well, here's my answer. The reason why this is so slow, is a) School can be a pea-shooter, b) Writer's Block is terrible, and c) I have a Writer's Overload on the wrong fanfiction railroad because of my crazy crossover mashups.

Ah... trust me, you might see a crossover between this game and a certain Malaysian cartoon if that idea is going through smoothly.

And no, this isn't on hiatus, but I will assure you that the updates in here are in an unexpected schedule.

Anyway, as it turns out, May might be my only chance of giving good updates, because when June arrives, I'll be back in school and having to juggle every over-reactive imagination that I have.

So, with that all out of the way, let's get on with the chapter, shall we?

Chapter 9: Courage in Grinders

"...ven..."

"...Raven..."

"Raven!"

"...wha..."Raven opened her eyes, only to meet Petra's weak eyes glazing at her worriedly. "...Happened...?"She tried to stand up, with Petra helping her up before she hugged her tightly, a warm sensation filling her. Was she freezing back then? What even happened that led her to another fainting?

Honestly, she's getting sick of fainting all over and that she had to ask her friends about what was happening when she woke up afterwards.

"You feel like you're going to say that question more times than you can remember."A male voice said in the back of her head. For some reason, it was familiar to her, but that seemed unlikely. Raven blinked her eyes in confusion. What was that?

"Raven, thank you... but please,"Petra frowned in concern. "Don't you dare do that or any stupid things again."

"*cough* Uh... your welcome?"Raven replied before Petra released her hug. She then glanced around the room. Gabriel was next to Petra, looking just as concerned as she was. Axel and Olivia rested in one corner of the room and Jesse seemed to be talking to them, the Amulet in his hand. What were they talking about, Raven didn't know; their voices were in hushed tones. Lukas was frowning, his arms crossed as he leaned to a pillar next to the closed door.

Wait a minute.

Why was the door closed? It was open before, she seemed to recall.

"You feel that you play a part on what happened before you fainted..."The male voice commented again with an amused tone. "In which you do, you lovey-dovey kitty, but your head seemed to have fainted so long that you forgot what happened."

It spoke again as Raven gritted her teeth. Whoever this voice, he sure had a way to get under her skin. The way that voice mentioned them had a hint as if he knew her. Well, why would someone apparently in the back of her head knew her? It could have been her imagination.

"What did happen?"Raven asked, absently brushing her hair with her fingers. A freezing chill danced on her left arm, causing her to absently rub her arm. She glanced at her Wither Sickness; it was worse than before, spreading to her forearm, while having the same deep purple shade on it.

She starts to cough as she felt her skin freezing. It's getting really worse. Her arm felt numb as if she couldn't move it at all, just moving it brought more pain prickling within her arm.

"Oh look, you did say that question again."

"Oh look, why don't you shut up for a change, will you?"Raven mentally snarked before she glanced at Petra and Gabriel, hoping they would tell her what did happen.

"When Gabriel and I got there, you were kneeling and shivering in pain. Gabriel was holding you in the back while I had to help Jesse."Petra explained.

"You do realize that it should have been the other way around? You could have gotten hurt."Gabriel remarked.

"It already happened, Gabriel."Petra closed her eyes before opening them again. "Anyway, while Jesse and I were fighting him, Ivor was supposed to strike me with one of his Potions..."Petra paused before she hugged her again. "But you burst in all of a sudden, taking the hit before you fainted."

"As much as how risky that was, that was very brave of you Raven."Gabriel acknowledged.

Now she remembers... the sudden spike of Wither Sickness... that deal with him... wait a minute, did she just let someone who constantly nagged her in the back of her head inside of her head?!

"Aha! It seems that your mind has realized that it's not in Kansas anymore, Ave."

"It certainly does,"Raven gritted her teeth before she glanced at Gabriel and Petra, who looked at her in concern. "Thanks for the information, you guys."She smiled as she massaged her left arm.

"It's no problem for a friend of mine."Gabriel replied gently as Raven smiled back at him.

"I just hope we can get to Soren in time."Petra sighed worriedly.

"I'm sure we will."Raven assured before she glanced again at her infected arm. To everyone's eyes, it may seem that she's looking at her arm, worriedly. That was true, but this also served as another purpose. A purpose that she didn't want to use because on whoever she's going to talk to, she's not going to like them.

"Are you done now, Ave?"

Huh, how convenient of him. But his amused tone of treating everything Raven was going through as a joke slightly ticked her off. "Oh most certainly, you little sc-"she quietly muttered in her gritted teeth.

"Ah, ah, ah. I don't recommend foul language, sweetheart. I have a name, Ave. You called me Coddi earlier."

"Right..."Raven grunted mentally, rolling her eyes at the remark.

"Hey, since when did I lie to you, huh? I don't cheat on deals that I make, you know."

"You know what, I'm just going to talk to you somewhere private, but definitely not now."Raven answered in her thoughts, her tolerance gradually reaching its tipping point.

"Oh, and why, pray tell, do you want to talk to me? I'm usually the one cracking icebreakers, unlike you."

Raven breathed calmly, trying to control her temper. If this Na-Coddi sent her here under someone's particular orders, she has to know on who hired the little nagger. "I want to learn more about you."She slowly stated.

"You... want to learn more about me?" Coddi remarked in shock, much to Raven's surprise, but she could still hear a hint of amusement. Whether he was mocking her or not, she has no idea. The former is more possible to happen. "How sweet of you, Rae."

"Don't call me that, Codfish. It'll only be a little chat."

"It's Coddi." Coddi huffed, from what Raven could hear. "Geez, you can't make up your mind, you know that? One moment you call me Nags, then Coddi, and then Codfish. Should I call you Abri then? Ela, as in Ela-nella?"

"Shut up."Raven muttered, having found interest at where Jesse was shining the Amulet into a spot of the stone floor.

"No, no, no... I'd like you to-"

"I mean it and we'll deal with this later, Coddi."Raven muttered, saying the last as she heard Jesse spoke.

"...I found the spot."Raven glanced at Jesse remarking, having the Amulet's white bar glowing brightly. Everyone looked at where the Amulet is shining through uncertainly, as Jesse gently bent down and lowered the Amulet to the ground, the glow gradually getting brighter and brighter until it hit the floor with a small clink. "It has to be."

"Maybe..."Axel remarked as everyone approached Jesse, but not before Axel giving a warm smile to Raven. "Glad to see you're up, Rae."

"I'd say the same to you as well, Axel."Raven beamed a grin as she noticed everyone's expressions cracked a smile, probably glad that she's finally up. Jesse then lifted on a kneeling position, the Amulet several inches above the ground.

"This is definitely it."Jesse said before he looked at everyone. "I guess it's time to start digging."

"Who knows how far down that goes?"Lukas asked, scratching his head in doubt. "We might end up digging until we hit bedrock." Jesse then glanced at Petra, Raven and Gabriel worriedly as Lukas continued. "Also, I don't think we're equipped for this."

Jesse sighed. "I don't know about you, but this might be the only shot of finding Soren that we have right now. Unless, we have better ideas of finding him, that is."He shrugged, glancing at Lukas as he waits for his answer.

"Jesse's talking to you, Lukas."Olivia pointed out as Lukas frowned in concern.

"I know that, it's just-"Lukas tried to defend when-

"KA-BOOM!"Axel suddenly exclaimed as he smashed the floor, leaving a small hole on the stone floor.

"Well, let's get started then."Jesse shrugged as he, Axel, Olivia and Lukas started to dig down the floor. Raven sighed wearily before she coughed slightly, the shivering cold coming again to her as she felt her left arm numb.

"The shivers come again, the spider dance will now begin." Coddi seemed to be singing... something, Raven couldn't tell what song he's singing, really. To what tune he's singing, it seems really catchy and upbeat. "It's really nice to play this game, my-"

"Coddi, I hate spiders."Raven muttered. "And how do you know that I'm freezing cold?"

"I'm in your head, Ave. Brain sensors detect that you're freezing like icebergs. So, like in our deal, I'll try to slow down the withering process... but you're still having them."

"Oh, yeah... right."Raven bit her lip absently in reply.

"What's the matter? Did you contract amnesia? Should I call 911? It'd be fun to see you react on the staff that I know."

"Coddi, are you usually that sadistic? Were you raised this way?"Raven gritted her teeth. She would save these questions really later, but Na- Coddi keeps bugging her as if her life was just a mere game to him.

What she got in reply was dead silence...

That seemed to drag on for a while. After what seemed to be an hour but it was just a few moments, Coddi whispered.

"Raven, don't." Coddi muttered quietly and seriously, which is unusual for Raven. Had he not be in her head, she would have to ask him say that again. "That's... personal."

"Oh, um..."Raven bit her lip again, having realized that she strayed on a sensitive topic. She didn't even expect that the goofy, ever-teasing Coddi was hiding something serious that his usual nature would chirp out. "I'm sorry?"

"Apology accepted, m'lady. Now let shall not be this conversation be spoken ever again."Coddi chirped in a more bubbly tone, ignoring what happened seconds ago. He's definitely hiding something, that's for sure. Did he come from a tragic background?

"Raven?"Raven blinked, her thoughts snapping as she glanced at who called her; Petra. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."Raven replied, cracking a smile to hide the serious conversation that she recently had.

"Jesse says it's safe to go down now."Petra remarked as Raven glanced at the now- large hole, that seemed to descend like a staircase. "Everyone's already down. They're only waiting for us."

"Oh, right... you go first."Raven said as the girls descended down the mock staircase. Petra was about to say something but Raven gave her a smile. "I insist."

Petra sighed, before she jumped and crouched down to get a better landing. Seeing that she's the only one left, Raven jumped, but ends up slipping on something and almost face-slamming the ground, had not Gabriel gently gripping her arm.

"Thanks."Raven mouthed, easing her breathing as she stood up, hiding her infected arm by clutching it tightly with her free hand.

"Everybody okay?"Jesse asked, looking at Raven in concern.

"I just slipped. Nothing bad about that."Raven replied when she noticed a really foul smell in the air. Was she imagining it or-

"What's that smell?"Olivia asked, covering her nose for a few moments. Nope, that foul smell is real and it stinks.

"I believe the scientific word for it is... poop."Gabriel clarified. "It's what Raven just slipped in." Olivia grinned and Axel snickered at the remark as Raven blinked her eyes thrice at the clarification.

She just slipped on poop.

She just slipped on a solid wastage of an organism.

Slipping on something would create markings on footwear.

Therefore, her feet would probably have markings of the solid wastage right now.

...

"You've got to be kidding me..."Raven deadpanned, shakily brushing her feet around the floor to remove those darn poop markings when a loud laugh rang in her mind.

"Are you laughing at me?"She inwardly hissed at Coddi.

"But, Canola Oil, that expression on your face was priceless."

"Right... but why did it have to be poop?"Raven muttered, her lips curled into a frown as she covered her nose.

"Beats me, sweetheart. Maybe you need to work on a better landing. Tuck and roll, may I advice."

"I'll... keep that in mind, mister laugh-a-lot."Raven muttered as she glanced at the group, now being led by Jesse as they walked on the tunnel. "We better catch up, then."

"We?"

"Might as well accept that you're sticking with me for awhile. Denying that I have a voice won't help me in the long run."Raven shrugged as she sighed, brisk walking to the group to catch up. When she finally caught up to them, she settled her walking pace to normal.

"You have a point there, Ave."

Raven nodded, a ghost of a smile cracking on her face as she saw Jesse softly encourage Reuben to stay close with him. As they reached the end of the tunnel, the group saw thousands of other tunnels, all of them in varrying heights, and adorned with colored wool and well-lit torches. A droning sound of smashing things together for a few seconds echoed around the area, with the sound coming far below them with an intricate machine. Yelps of surprise echoed from Axel and Lukas as the droning sound gradually became louder in Raven's ears.

"I don't suppose sensitive hearing is-"Raven tried to mutter.

"Sweetheart, no." Coddi replied. "And, watch your step if you can."

"But why-"

"We need to get out of here!" Before Raven could come back a reply, Olivia's scream pierced the air. Raven glanced at her in concern, a feeling of dread creeping up in her stomach.

"But we just got here!"Axel remarked.

"You don't understand..."Olivia replied as Raven glanced at one of the tunnels, the dread feeling gradually getting bigger once she realized the situation. One of the tunnels let out a wave of water with skeletons in it. The skeletons fell into droning machine below before the they were smashed into pieces, leaving arrows behind. "This is a grinder!"

"I... see what you mean, Olivia."Raven gulped aloud.

"They're meant to kill monsters. Trouble is, they can't tell the difference between monsters and people."Olivia continued.

"This can't be good."Jesse frowned as he shook his head.

"But there should be a loot room down there, right?"Axel asked.

"Uh, if we can get down there without be crushed, then yeah, maybe."Raven answered hastily, glancing around the area, hoping there was a way they could get down without being grinded.

"Just saying... not all that bad."Axel shrugged before they all heard a familiar hiss as a bunch of creepers came out of the shadows.

Raven gulped as she tried to look for another way to get in the grinder unharmed at the end of the tunnel. Keyword: tried. There were so many tunnels that she had lost count which could lead in the right-

"Easy with the head now, Ave. You're overwhelming yourself."

"Right, Coddi..."Raven muttered. "What, do you think another path will lay out just for-"

BOOM!

The sound of an explosion pierced the air as Raven sharply turned back to her friends. There was now a hole from the tunnel, most likely coming from the creeper explosion.

"Pro tip; try to go with the flow, Ave." Coddi said.

"Well, how am I supposed to know that's going to happen?"Raven muttered as she saw Jesse pulled out the Amulet to look deeper into the hole, the white glow shining brightly like a flashlight.

"There he is. He's right down-"A sudden wave of water rushed towards them, carrying more creepers and intending to drag them down into the grinder.

Raven felt her foothold get carried away by the rushing current. She yelped in surprise before Gabriel steadily grabbed her arm, allowing her to implant her feet on the ground. She then mouthed a thank you to him before she saw Jesse lost grip of the Amulet, with the object slowly dropping down below.

"Well... crud."Raven muttered. "Why is luck cruel today?"

"That depends." Coddi shrugged as Raven looked down from the hole.

"I sometimes wonder why I did agree to your deal."Raven murmured in annoyance.

"Jesse, was that..."She heard Olivia asked.

"The amulet? Yeah..."Jesse agreed before he sighed as Raven saw him rush next to the hole, his knees bent, all ready to-

"You're going to jump, are you?" Raven bit her lip.

"Let's just... tuck and roll."Jesse replied before he jumped as he was followed by Petra, Gabriel, Reuben. It was this time Raven took a leap of faith, crouched and jumped on the ground beneath her, all the while pulling her stone sword as she did.

"See, I told you that tuck and roll advice is handy."

"A little too late on the advice now, aren't we?"Raven muttered, her position guarded as she saw Jesse strike a creeper, causing a wall of dirt to have a huge hole on it, revealing more mobs coming out for the group.

Raven slashed a nearby spider when it approached her before following Petra, Olivia, Lukas and Reuben. She ran as she jumped into another platform when she saw a cornered Lukas struggling to evade three skeletons shooting at him.

"Hey, bone-skulls!"The skeletons turned to her, their aim now pointing to her as they shoot at her in varying intervals.

As the first arrow flew, Raven quickly sidestepped to the other side to dodge it and bent down at the next arrow. She then stood up and began to spin around quickly with her sword in hand to deflect the third arrow. Like a small whirlwind, she spins around as quick as she can as two of the skeletons began to approach her before they were thrown at the force her sword did before she outwardly slashed the last skeleton with everything that she got.

Raven then grinned at what she did before she clutched her head with her left hand, the dizziness of spinning around finally getting to her. "I... uh, probably shouldn't have done that."She laughed weakly, massaging her head numbly to ease the dizziness.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Raven?"Lukas asked as Raven tried to get her footing stable, all the while Lukas was kicking cave spiders that tried to attack them.

"I'll be fine, trust me."Raven tried to smile, attacking a nearby spider before she turned to see Jesse duck under a jumping spider. She glanced at where the spider fell before more of them starts to come out for the three of them.

"Ave... You shouldn't have spoke too soon."

"I know that, okay..."Raven inwardly muttered as-

"Hold on!"Jesse yelped as a wave of water headed towards them, putting his sword away as Raven felt her foot got carried away, quickly sheathing her sword as she tried to hold on the edge of the platform as the spiders were washed off by the wave along with Jesse and Lukas.

It was not a pleasant experience.

"Why would that be, Ave? Don't tell me you enjoy it?"

"Agh..."Raven grunted as she pulled herself up together on the now-dry platform before unsheathing her sword. "Later, Codfish."She muttered inwardly, earning an annoyed 'Hey' from the nagging voice.

"Reuben, wait up!"She heard Jesse called his pig before she followed him along with Lukas as they crossed one of the platforms. Raven then glanced what was behind her, only to see three zombies marching forward to the group. Looking back to see Jesse helping Petra and Gabriel fighting incoming creepers, she then proceeded to fight the zombies with her sword. She was slashing at them as best as she can, turning two of them into rotten flesh before she does a quick spin and kicked the remaining zombie into deep gap that was below them.

"Why do you spin so much?"

"At least it was only once..."Raven rolled her eyes as she approached Lukas, only to see an incoming creeper fall on the platform. She gulped again, seeing Reuben squeal as he ran away.

"Reuben!"Raven called. She then sheathed her sword and grabbed Lukas' hand as she followed the pig and ran as fast as she could before she jumped into the next area...

And proceeded to fall flat on her face in the platform.

"Owwwie augh..."Raven groaned as she tried to stood up, using her left hand to ease her pain. She sighed in relief upon seeing Jesse and Lukas are okay.

"The amulet! It's over there!"Lukas exclaimed as he pointed several platforms below them in a stone floor. The Amulet was in there, it's white glow still shining brightly in the grinder. On a higher platform than where the Amulet was sitting, Axel and Reuben jumped into it as a stream of water flowed into it, leaving a bunch of hostile mobs before it slided to where the Amulet sat, pushing it to the edge, to the point that it could fall within any second.

"I've got to help them!"Jesse breathed as Raven glanced at the boys.

"What about the amulet?"Lukas asked.

"We'll go get it, Jesse. Go, now!"Raven encouraged as she jumped to the incoming platform, crouching steadily before she felt herself roll over as she touched the ground, her footing stable.

"See, you can tuck and roll and nothing bad will happen."

"I'll really keep that in mind."Raven remarked quietly as she stood up and saw Lukas hold the Amulet in glee, exclaiming that he got it. She smiled before she coughed weakly again, the shivering coming up to her again.

"Raven, are you-"Lukas tried to approach her.

"I'm fine!"Raven hastily replied. "I'm really fine! Don't worry about it."She then shrugged sheepishly before she heard a rush of water coming from the platform above them. Yelps of surprise came from Jesse and Axel as Raven saw them split and-

"Jesse!"Raven yelled as she saw Jesse about to fall in the Grinder before she coughed again from her loud shout.

"Maybe you should stay quiet for a while."

"No comment."Raven mumbled before she heard a loud bang from below them.

"It's safe to jump in now!"She heard Olivia noted as Raven saw her leap into the grinder, that now have a large hole in the center. Seeing everyone doing it, Raven jumped into the water smoothly as she held her breath, trying to make noise bubbles.

"Hey, Ave... I have a word of advice for you."

"What's that?"Raven thought, too busy trying to make air bubbles so she can breathe as she saw Reuben getting sucked into the pipes below them. She cupped her mouth in shock as she felt something sucking her also.

"Buckle up, sweetheart. You're in for a wild ride." That was the last words that Raven heard before everything went black.

Well... that happened. The Grinder fighting scene could have used for more detail, though... as Raven was tagging along with Lukas so I have to make up some of the fight scenes.

So, what do you think about it? I know, It's been a while, but constructive criticism could be handy.

BriarRaven8680