“You have nothing to say at all?”

  “Not… really. I mean, I play a lot of video games, so I’m pretty good at those. But Pari and Denzel are usually the ones who do stuff.”

  “Hmm…so you did nothing to help us escape from the Witch’s Hut, is that correct?”

  Aiden shifted a little, unsure. “Well, not really, I guess. I did help a little.”

  “Hm.” Pavlos paused, then turned to Pari instead, smiling at her as he did. “What would you say Aiden did to help you all back at the swamp?”

  “He remembered how to cure you all of the zombifications,” Pari blurted out instantly. She turned and beamed brightly at her friend and even gave him a friendly punch to the shoulder. “We couldn’t have done it without that potion recipe, and Aiden’s the only one experienced enough to have remembered.”

  Pavlos nodded, then turned to Aiden, hands spread and smiling. “You see? Don’t sell yourself short, young man.”

  Aiden grinned a little and nodded, and finally, the elder turned to Pari, who seemed to know what was coming and fired off a reply.

  “I’m the fighter.” She put her hands on her hips and puffed her chest out proudly.

  “The fighter? An impressive title to take on so soon. You’re the adventurous one, I assume.”

  “We explore the woods behind our houses a lot. Pari always leads us into new places.” Aiden piped up and nudged her with his elbow. “One time we ran into a wild coyote, and she managed to lure it away with her lunch so we could run.”

  “It wasn’t a coyote, it was probably just the neighbor’s dog,” Denzel laughed.

  “No! It was a coyote!” Pari and Aiden bought shot back.

  That made Pavlos chuckle a bit. “How brave. A defender and protector. Curious for one so…”

  At that, Pavlos paused mid-word, and the other two saw Pari’s hackles raise.

  “Small?” Her voice was firm and challenging, looking the Pavlos right in the eye as she did.

  Pavlos gulped.

  “I’ve always been picked on for being small. They stopped picking on me when they realized I can dodge between their legs! I may be small, but like my mom always says, I’m big on the inside!”

  Pavlos gave a slow, knowing nod, eyes twinkling in respect. “Understood. My apologies, Pari. You are not one to be underestimated. Truly something to respect.”

  “What about you, Mr. Pavlos?” Pavlos shifted to Aiden in surprise as he spoke. “I mean- we don’t know much about you either, or this village.”

  “You’ve been so kind to us,” Pari added, seeming to lessen her initial anger into a small smile. “The least we can do is learn a little about your people.”

  “Well, why don’t you take a walk with me,” Pavlos stood up and the three followed.

  “Here, we have a small slice of paradise.”

  - Elder Pavlos

  Chapter 2: Peacetime

  The fog from the swamplands did not spread far. As the Plainswalkers followed Pavlos outside they were met by crisp, clear sunshine. The little wooden walls of the village stacked cozily with small grass pathways crafting roads for the residents’ convenience.

  The trio walked along in Pavlos’s wake and watched as the other villagers stopped and said their hellos to them as they passed.

  Young children scampered around Pavlos’ legs before chasing each other across the valley, gardeners paused to offer their goods, and throughout the small, peaceful village, the community slowly made their way outside to bustle along their way.

  “This village has been here for many years. I was not the Elder for most of them.”

  They strolled along a small courtyard as Pavlos spoke. His eyes were relaxed, a small smile across his face, and his voice rumbled in a comfortable timbre.

  “We work to preserve it and ourselves. We keep a peaceful life, most of the time, free from battles and scarcity. Help your neighbor and he is bound to help you as well, as is our lifestyle.”

  Pavlos paused by a small well in the center of the courtyard, cobblestone and wood weathered with love and age. He draped a robed arm on its rim and cast his stare towards the open plains, overlooking the scattered farms and workers resting there.

  “We have many enemies, as peaceful folks tend to do. One of our greater ones were the Pillagers that you yourselves seemed to have rid us of.”

  An Iron Golem ambled across the farm paths as he spoke, clomping like rhino feet around the perimeter.

  “We have some precautions to keep us safe, but sadly, it is not always enough.”

  Pari walked to his side, mimicking his gaze and squinting at the wandering Iron Golem. “Why don’t you fight?” She asked. “Do none of you know how to use any weapons?”

  He cocked his brow at her displeased expression and shook his head. “We have never learned. It isn’t in our nature to fight. We are a peaceful people, and thus all we know is peace.”

  Aiden let out a breath of a sigh. “Wow. You all seem to have a really tight community here.”

  “It’s the only way for them to survive.” Denzel stepped up to join Pavlos by the well. “Who else would care for them without each other?”

  “Precisely. The world is cold and harsh, but here, we have a small slice of paradise.” He smiled at Denzel. “Very astute, young man.”

  A soft orange glow started to crest over the horizon. Villagers began to call out over the town and children started to run to their homes, locks clacking and doors closing tight as the evening sun began to sink.

  Elder Pavlos sighed and pressed his hands into his sleeves, turning to the trio slowly. “It appears that it’s time for us to retire to our houses for the night. You’re free to stay in the village if you wish, but regardless—good luck, Plainswalkers. I wish you all the best in your coming journey, and should you need a place to rest, our village will always be here for you.”

  The three said their goodbyes and watched the elder return to his home.

  “Where are we going?” Aiden asked.

  “To our base, we need to prepare,” Denzel answered.

  Before long, the three began their journey back to their large tower base. It was a few hills over, far enough away to obscure the village from view. By the time they had arrived the sun had just finished setting and the tower was alight with a soft orange glow.

  “How about we prepare tomorrow?” Pari yawned.

  Aiden nodded in agreement, and the three headed inside to where they had placed their beds. Their beds were cold and foreign as they settled, but the aches in their backs were enough for them to fall asleep without much issue.

  “I was afraid for you.”

  - Denzel Brown

  Chapter 3: Back to the Base

  As sun rose once again, sunlight seeped through the windows of the tower, awaking it’s three residents.

  Pari set the Ender Pearl in the topmost chest of the tower before returning to the others. They had scoured the base before and discovered it quite well-stocked: it had bedrooms aplenty and a large kitchen hidden away. Though the chests in the kitchen were bare before they piled it full of the villager’s produce.

  They sipped on mushroom stew in their long, empty dining room together. Through the early morning quiet, Denzel was first to finish, pushing his empty dish out onto the table before him.

  “So.”

  Pari and Aiden glanced up from their bowls as he spoke. His arms were folded, and out before him, he had spread out the treasure map.

  “It’s probably about time we nail down a plan.”

  Pari swallowed a mouthful, grabbing a chair to kick her feet up onto. “I didn’t think we needed one. We just set out today and get to the jungle in a few days.”

  “You don’t think we could spend a little more time preparing?” Denzel said, eyebrows raising.

  Pari shrugged blankly. “We have swords, we have food. What else do we need?”

  “We have enough food for like, three days. And no armor.”

  “Armor shawarmer.”

  “Pari, you almost died to witches yesterday.”

  “I was fiiiine.”

  Denzel put his face in his hands and Aiden cleared his throat, shifting Pari’s attention to him. “I think Den’s right. There’s no harm in gathering more supplies. I even started digging into a mine that we could explore.”

  “Besides, we don’t know what we’ll be up against in that jungle.” Denzel continued, smoothing out the map’s creases. “We’re going to need all of the advantages we can get.”

  Pari gave a long, drawn-out groan until her head hung upside down from the back of her chair, then she snapped back up swiftly. “Alright, fine, you’re right. I could go for some cool armor. Besides, can’t we find some cool dungeons or something underground in this game?”

  Aiden nodded. “And mineshafts. We might get lucky and find some rare stuff if we come across any chests. We should be careful though, these caves can get dangerous, even in the morning.”

  “Okay, so it’s decided. We’ll go into the cave that Aiden already started exploring,” Denzel said as he rolled the map back up.

  Pari and Aiden nodded in agreement and slurped down their stew.

  They spent the rest of the early morning to get as prepared as they could. Then just as the sun started to peak, and with Aiden in the lead, they walked down the steep steps beneath the tower.

  As they made their way down, the natural light slowly faded into the flickering flames of their torches. The tunnel Aiden had carved on his previous excavations was long and winding. As they marched deeper beneath the ground Denzel peered around at the blocky, stone pickaxe twisting in his hand.

  “How much of this did you dig, Aiden?” Denzel asked.

  “Most of it,” Aiden said, setting another torch up on the wall. “The Pillagers started it, though. They got far enough to expose some iron ore blocks, but that’s about it. I managed to find a cave system the last time I was down here, so we should be able to explore that and see what we can find.”

  The stone wall sharpened to an angular corner. A large patch of darkness stretched out into a room before them. It was deathly silent aside from the crackle of kindle and tinder from their torches. Enough light was shining through to reveal at least two other tunnels.

  “Well.” Aiden shifted, putting a hand on his sword hilt with an air of uncertainty. “This is it. This is how far I got.”

  “It looks so much creepier up close.” Pari breathed.

  Denzel stepped out in front of them and carefully shone a torch further into the room.

  “Looks like there are a few ways to go. We should stick to the right tunnel for now.”

  Denzel plopped his light onto the righthand wall and started walking.

  The other two had to jog slightly to catch up.

  “Why the right?” Aiden asked him.

  The tunnel widened as they moved, lessening the natural claustrophobic nature of the caverns.

  “That’s how people find their way out of mazes. Trail the right wall with your hand, or, in this case-” he wiggled a newly lit torch with a small grin, and placed it on the wall “-leave a trail, and you’ll always find your way back to the entrance.”

  “You’ve never done a maze before. How did you figure that out?”

  “It was in a book I read. The main character got stuck in a maze while they were being chased. After about a week of scraping by, he just started following the wall in a daze. Got out by the next day. I had to look it up after that, but it’s a real tactic people use. Just keep going right.”

  “What book is that?” Pari joined the conversation. “I’ve never read it.”

  “Yeah, because it’s not a baby book,” Denzel laughed, happy at his own joke.

  “I will stab you,” Pari snapped back and started poking Denzel’s stomach with her fingers.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Denzel giggled.

  Denzel and the others suddenly paused as the soft fluttering of wings met their ears.

  “What is that?” Aiden whispered.

  With a harsh, nasal squeak, a bat tumbled its way in their direction, catching itself before flying up over their heads and into the darkness again.

  “Spooky,” Aiden sighed a breath of relief.

  Denzel continued walking forward, placing his torches on the wall as he went.

  “Hope that wasn’t just bad foreshadowing,” Pari mumbled. She unsheathed her sword and shield just in case, catching up to join Denzel in the front. “Hey, what did you think of those witches yesterday?”

  Denzel glanced at her. “What are you talking about?”

  “Y’know, what did you think? Our first real adventure. Daring escapes, brave rescues.” She swished her sword through the air idly as if mimicking fighting off a beast. “How’d you feel?”

  “How did I feel?” His voice turned disbelieving. “Like any normal person would feel. I was terrified, Pari. We could’ve been killed back there. We barely got out as it is.”

  Pari scoffed, brow furrowed. “No, we didn’t! We got out of there completely unscathed, and we got the pearl. D’you have to be so negative all the time?”

  “We were kidnapped by witches. Knocked out by shovels. We had no idea that we could escape without us biting it in the process.”

  “I was the one who was in any kind of danger most of the time! What did you have to be afraid of?”

  “Are you serious? I was afraid for you!”

  Pari stopped in her tracks, lurching forward when Aiden bumped into her back. Denzel paused mid-step to glance back at her, and his eyes met a face of blank surprise. He frowned slowly and turned to her, the light of the torches casting odd shadows onto their faces.

  “Did…did you seriously think that I wasn’t scared you’d get hurt?”

  For once, Pari’s eyes turned to the ground. She found a loose stone and kicked it. “I-I dunno.” She said. “You just seemed so worried with putting yourself before us, I didn’t think you’d be worried about me. Especially after we…”

  “Fought?” Denzel sighed and put his hand to his temple. “Oh, man, I’m sorry, Pari. Of course, I was worried about you. This whole situation is just- insane. I mean, look at us!”

  He stepped back and spread his arms, drawing attention to the sharply carved out tunnel walls, the pixilated textures of the stone and coal ore surrounding them.

  The other two looked down at themselves again as if remembering their new bodies, stretching out blocky legs and fingers with hesitancy.

  “We’re stuck inside this game with only one way out, and even that’s only a possibility for now. Just a few days ago we were taking math quizzes and climbing around your backyard. I’ve been scared out of my mind since we got here, so I guess I’ve been a little…tense. And I’m…sorry.”

  He took a step toward her and rested a hand on her shoulder, and there was a beat of silence before she shrugged it off, neck burning to her ears.

  “Ah, stop it. You don’t gotta.” She gave a crooked half-grin and bumped her first into his arm, and he stumbled, snorting out a laugh.

  “But I mean it. I’m sorry that I made it seem like I didn’t care.”

  “It’s-it’s fine, it’s whatever. Don’t worry about it, Den. It was my fault for thinking you didn’t.”

  The slow echoes of dripping cave water dulled as Denzel grinned at her, and she smiled right back. Aiden stuck his head between theirs and puckered his lips, making obnoxious kissing noises until they both shoved him back onto his heels.

  “Hey, Aiden, how about you?” Denzel said as they pressed on.

  Pari spotted some iron ore hanging from the cave ceiling a few blocks ahead of them, so she ran ahead while the two boys paused, with Aiden leaning calmly against the wall.

  “What about?” Aiden asked.

  “How’re you feeling about all this?”

  “I don’t know. I think I’m still trying to soak it in.” He said. “I can’t really say I’m that scared, but it feels like I should be. I mean, yesterday was freaky, that’s for sure, but…I don’t know. It kinda feels familiar to me.”

  “’Cause you’ve played this game so often?” Denzel leaned next to him, slightly towering over as he looked down.

  Aiden shrugged and watched Pari hack away at the iron ore blocks for a moment.

  “Probably. I feel kinda bad about it, honestly.”

  “What, about not being scared? Nah, I mean…I think I get it. This is like a weird dream to you. Like you’re just going through motions you knew you were going to go through.”

  Aiden glanced up at him thoughtfully. “Yeah, that’s actually pretty spot-on. Maybe it just hasn’t sunk in yet or something. I mean…what if we don’t get out? What if we’re stuck inside Minecraft forever? I kinda just don’t wanna think about those possibilities.”

  They were both silent at that. The steady tink, tink of Pari’s pick was like a drumbeat patterning out their pause. Eventually, Denzel spoke up again, staring out into the darkness of the tunnel.

  “I don’t know, man. I really don’t. We don’t know what this really is, if we’re in the game and the real world is going out around us. Or we’re in the same world as Michael and Liam, if their streams are even real. Or maybe we’re in some weird parallel universe and not in the same seed as them. Or maybe it’s some crazy dream that all three of us are sharing.” He ran a hand over his hair, gaze and voice both equally distant. “I guess we just shouldn’t think too hard about it. Besides, it’s not like we don’t have other things to focus on.”

  “Do you think we’ll manage to do it? Finish Dolos and Apate’s task and escape the game?” Aiden asked, craning his head to get a look at Denzel’s eyes. They were unfocused in a way he had never seen, an utter loss for thought from someone whose mind is usually so sharp.

  Denzel didn’t look at him, shrugging slightly in reply.

  “Maybe. D’you?”

  Aiden chewed on his lower lip. “I think…we can. For some reason, I don’t feel particularly worried. Somehow, I feel like, no matter what, we’re gonna be okay. I feel like…we can do this.”

 

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