Chapter 2
Guinessis gives a half-laugh. "Impossible."
"No, no," Listings insists. "It is true. The jack-o-lantern you have brought to me is fully present in 2 states of matter."
"Listings, could you please explain it in Swimmerian?" I ask Listings.
"Sure. When you are just carrying it-" -he picks up the jack-o-lantern- "-it is solid. Go ahead and feel it." I take it in my hands, then he takes it back. "But, when you try to seriously harm it, it transforms into a gaseous state of matter." He takes out a sledgehammer and heaves it over to the table. He raises it over his head and brings it down on the jack-o-lantern. But the moment it touches it, the jack-o-lanterns image smudges and spreads out into wisps of strange, dark purple smoke. The sledgehammer clatters on the table. Listings lifts it back up, and right when he does, the wisps of smoke implode into the jack-o-lantern.
"WHAT!?" I scream. "HOW?"
Listings shakes his head. "I don't know. This is far beyond my understanding of science. But that is not all that I found. Take a look through that microscope." I look into the microscope and see bits of purple in a sea of black. "That is the sample of the jack-o-lantern. Now look into the one with a normal pumpkin." I look into the one beside it and see orange molecules and germs. "Now look back into the other one, and watch what happens when I put my hand near it." Listings puts his hand on the table near the point where the microscope is focused on. Suddenly, the purple blobs in the black start to form words. DEATH. SURVIVOR. PAIN. HUNTER. FATE. FEAR. BLOOD. EVIL. ENEMY. HATRED. Then it begins to make intricate shapes that evoke thoughts of pain and fear.
"I - I - I don't understand this," I stutter. Guinessis and Ciu22 nod their heads in agreement.
"Well, I don't know if you watched the news, but there was a lot of talk about your little temple."
"Yea, the locals were saying some pretty serious shizl."
"Yes. If I were you-" -he points to me, then Guinessis and Ciu- "-guys, I would heed their warnings. Something is going to happen. Nobody knows what yet, but I assure you, we won't want to get into it."
"Well," Guinessis says, "if you are so compelled to believe that there is really a great evil that has been released into Minecraftia, then why haven't you prepared for it?"
Listings sidesteps to reveal a closet door. He opens it and reveals armor, weapons, and dozens of sacks of food. "Does that answer your question?" Guinessis nods. "Good. Now take your little pumpkin and get out of here."
Me and Guinessis talk on the way out. "So what are we going to do now?" I ask him.
"You really fell for it, haven't you?"
"What?"
"Oh, come on. This is all so fake. There isn't going to be some great evil. It's common sense."
"Try saying that to the smoky pumpkin and the molecules of death."
"Well, if you really want me to prove to you that there is nothing going on, we'll all go to the site tomorrow."
"Fine. I'll meet you at the Oasis Station." I turn around and walk away. I honestly don't know what to believe anymore.
-•-LOTDH-•-
I shudder when I enter the Oasis Station. I look at the giant facility built around the small dot of dense plant life. I hate going in there. The giant tubes and the cold, industrial atmosphere makes me feel like a lab rat. Yet, I enter, and I meet up with Guinessis and Ciu22 on the Fertile Grounds in the center of the first floor.
"So, are you ready to go to the site?" I ask Guinessis.
"That depends. Are you ready to stop believing this stupidity?"
"No."
"Then, by all means, let's go." He leads us out of the Fertile Grounds and we walk through a tube that leads to the rooftop. A sleek, black helicopter is waiting for us there. We enter and the helicopter spurs to life, and we begin to inch away from the rooftop and into the air.
"I'm not really an experienced driver with this thing," our pilot, Dlmt3 says to us. "So expect an unpleasant ride." The helicopter swivels and jerks and shakes up and down with such a force that it makes you wonder if he is doing this on purpose. We continue to shake like we're in a blender for another half hour, then Dlmt3 takes us on a rollercoaster-like drop towards the ground. Before we hit the ground, he brings us upright, and does his version of a "gentle" landing.
"Umm... thanks for the ride," I say.
"Hey, I'm not meant for this stuff," he snaps, obviously seeing that I am not pleased with his helicopter piloting. "I should be on my feet, fighting in the army."
"What kept you from it?" Guinessis asks as he gets off. Dlmt3 turns round in his chair and reveals his legs... er... leg. "Oh."
"Yep." He motions for us to leave, and we start down the hill and into the giant excavated hole.
I am dumbfounded with what I see. Around the mossy, ominous temple are pillars about 1/3 the hight of the temple each. They are also mossy, but at the top of them, there are tiny altars. A circular floor has been excavated, with flowing, swirling designs of gold, obsidian, and stone bricks encompassing the temple and the altar pillars. Guinessis leads us down into the crater, and we take a look around. I continuously glance down at the floor. I can't shake the feeling that it looks familiar. I begin to just stare at it, trying to realize where I've seen it before.
"Hey, S_swimmer, if there is a great evil, where is it now?" Guinessis taunts me, but I only hear a faded voice shoved behind my concentration. I hear dull thuds, and look up for a moment to see Guinessis hitting the altars, taking small steps into the temple, and any other thing that would normally make an ancient evil rather pissed. I look back down at the floor. Suddenly, it starts to move. Then it hits me like a tidal wave.
"Guys?" I yell over to them nervously. "We need to get out of here."
"What, you're still scared?"
"No, we have to get out of here, NOW!" Then, all at once, the altars light themselves with black fire that gives off purple smoke. The ground begins to shake, subtle at first, then violently. The swirls of gold and obsidian move faster, but now Guinessis and Ciu22 can see it. The circular floor begins to spin. Suddenly, fast-moving tendrils of black matter burst from the temple. I scream and run. I look behind me to see Guinessis and Ciu22 right behind me, but Ciu is slowing fast. He starts to pant, and then he trips and the black wraps around him like fingers and pulls him into the temple.
"CIU!" I yell, and start after him, but Guinessis grabs my arm.
"We have to get out of here!" he says, and we rush towards the helicopter. Dlmt3 starts it immediately and rockets toward the sky. I look back to see the temple. Then, altogether, the temple, the floor and the altar pillars explode in a giant cloud of black smoke, sending pieces flying everywhere, shaking the entire land of Minecraftia. Then, the black smoke implodes, forcing the bits of the temple back in with it, a flash of white as the pieces merge again and then nothing.
-•-LOTDH-•-
We thank Dlmt3 as we get off the helicopter, trying as hard as we can to put the events we just experienced behind us. I let Guinessis go first, and Dlmt3 stops me right as I'm about to get off. "I don't know about you," he whispers to me, "but I have a gut feeling you're going to have to go back there sometime." I nod solemnly and head off to my house. But when I open the door, on the ground in the living room is... Ciu22. his eyes are black, his mouth is foaming, he looks like he is having a seizure, and faint purple smoke emanates from him. There is a message on the wall above him, written in blood. DO NOT RETURN.
End Chapter 2
Quick note, guys! All submissions for the "Who Will be the Dark Hunter?" competition is due when chapter 4 is released! I have seen some amazing applications, and I suggest you make yours soon if you want to!
Second note: Always make sure to check this thread every once in a while, because you never know when I am going to update an unfinished chapter!
