Day 140: Back to The End

     Today's the day we report everything we all experienced back to COLUS and the others. The Endermen, the portal, The End, Keystones, master portals, Eyes of Ender, EVERYTHING! We couldn't leave a single piece of information out, but I doubted we would; since returning to the shack, it was as though the entire incident had been emblazoned into my mind, searing the details in their crystal clear clarity. I was unlikely to forget anything that happened to me, and from the looks of the others, I could only assume the same of them. For once I was one of the last ones to wake up. Expecting to have nightmares throughout the night, I was surprised to wake up feeling refreshed and well rested; if I had had any nightmares at any point then I don't remember them. It was Amie that actually woke me up; she shook my shoulder until I awoke, and instantly the glorious smell of hot toast filled my nostrils as I suddenly realised the others were having breakfast.

"Come on Syeonyx... We're heading back to the base soon."

A little dazed at my surroundings - I always was first thing in the morning, for some bizarre reason - I managed to pry myself away from the surprising comfort of the floor boards, and sat up, before a handful of toast was thrust into my face. Taking it in my right hand, I rubbed my eyes with the other, trying to wipe the sleep from my bleary eyes. I sat quietly, eating the still warm, crunchy toast, listening in on the other conversation. I hadn't realised immediately, but Amie as looking at me the entire time I ate. Looking up from my toast and at her, she smiled before looking at the others.

"What do you think COLUS is going to say about all of this? Do you reckon he'll give us the go ahead to head deeper?"

"Honestly...? I don't know... Last we checked, there were only two primary portals active in the master portal chamber. Whether that works in favour of going further or not, I don't know..."

"Well if we just explain to him that we're close to destroying the portal, and all we need to do is identify the location of the portal that holds the Keystone, travel to the Nether and find the twelve Eyes of Ender..."

"See, now that's the bit that I can't see COLUS buying. We have no idea where the Eyes could be in the Nether, let alone whether they even exist! Admittedly we need to tell him about the portal, and I think an active search of it needs to be made. But what we do from there must be established only after we've found it... No use running before we can crawl..."

"Let's just hope he at least grants us that. If this item does indeed truly exist, then we have a major advantage over HoN Co.!"

"Provided we can find all twelve Eyes of Ender... We wouldn't even know where to start!"

"Well, maybe there will be clues in the same location as the portal. Or maybe SERVERE can access more data about the Endermen from the stored information that HoN Co. is holding... Besides, you forget: there's that odd time dilation effect that occurs with the Nether. Time is practically tripled in the Nether. Whatever happens in the Nether could be done much slower in this dimension, so we literally have time on our side as well!"

We packed up our stuff and began to get ready to head out. It could be a few hours before we returned to this place. It could be days! COLUS wasn't the most predictable of people, so there was no point leaving anything behind. As everyone began to leave, I hung back, waiting for Amie. She smiled and thanked me as I let her leave first. As I went to close the door, I smiled...

----

     Well, that went surprisingly well... We had all expected to go to COLUS, tell our side of the story and have COLUS reply with a resounding 'NO' immediately. Not only did he say yes, but he also insisted that everyone goes back there together! We were all so taken aback by this that for a few moments we all sat there in total silence, no-one saying anything... COLUS has been informed about everything that had happened, what each of us had experienced and now he knew everything we did! Starting with an explanation about the Endermen and the strange building we had finally found with SERVERE's instructions, we went on to the portals, Keystones, dimensions, Eyes of Ender, and how it tied in well with our current progress with the master portal and connected active primary portals. OROTHO even put in his little bit about the time warping that we had experienced when we all headed into the Nether and how it could be used to our advantage.

"If we were to spend the equivalent of a week in the Nether, then technically, back here in Minecraftia, only just over two days would have passed instead. We could accomplish a lot in an apparently small space of time!"

"So you all propose that we head back into this place you found, look for the portal and then head into the Nether to find a way to activate it?"

"In theory, yes. But there's no way we can guarantee a portal exists, let alone the Eyes that are used to activate it. So we would have to make a decision once we find the portal. If we can find it, that is..."

It took COLUS all of a minute to come out with his answer, and luckily it worked in our favour. He went on to agree with us about how we had potentially reached a dead-end in terms of destroying portals as we had no more definite locations known to us, and hoped that the Keystone would be all we needed. That was an hour ago; now we stood at the entrance to the obsidian tunnel, waiting to go in. I expect that with COLUS being left out of the visual elements of our explanation, he was still taking it all in.

"How did HoN Co. ever find a place like this...?"

"We don't know. All we know is that there is another entrance to this place through a HoN Co. secured entrance."

"But how do we know that we won't find any guards or HoN Co. scientists in there...? They could still be researching this place heavily!"

"They're not! They've more or less abandoned this place."

COLUS looked shocked as SERVERE seemed to appear out of nowhere. Judging from the direction he was walking, he had been hiding in the tunnel for some time; he stopped, only revealing his face after COLUS was able to take in who it was.

"COLUS... Long time, no see..."

"SERVERE? I... I don't know what to say..."

"Don't say anything. You know everything you need to know about me through these guys. All you need to know from me is... I'm still with the Lone 7. Or should that be the Lone 10 now...? You've gained a few people. Good people I hope...?"

"Yes of course. I admit the name seems a little outmoded... But still... It's been too long SERVERE. We have to catch up some time. Maybe I can convince you to come back with us. Stay on our side. The winning side!"

"That's nice and all, but I'll have to decline. Not that I don't want to, but it's in both mine and your best interests if I were to stay where I am. I've got access to any information you could possibly need... No use removing that link."

"Fair enough... But I was serious about the catch-up... Are you going to accompany us into this building? Maybe you can tell us some more about this place..."

"I am indeed, but I have to make it brief. I've got the horrible feeling HoN Co.'s beginning to suspect something. My movements and time lapses between appearances have become somewhat... Erratic lately. I don't want to worry them needlessly..."

SERVERE stepped aside and allowed us all to enter, in single file once more, before following me at the back. Once we reached the actual end of the obsidian tunnel and entered into the beginnings of the building, I shuddered. This place gave me the creeps, and apart from the strange occurrence that had happened to us all, there was no other reason for it... As SERVERE stepped over the threshold, we heard the growl followed by a whistle, and everyone stopped! Amie instantly grabbed me, and everyone turned around to look at each other so we could determine who would disappear. I assumed that it would be COLUS as he hadn't been here before, but a few moments later, SERVERE disappeared. COLUS would be next then, but after a few minutes, he still remained, not having moved at all. We didn't hear another growl at all... Was that a good sign...?

Syeonyx signing off