Day 152: Return home

     I had that dream again... Although the odd thing about it was that it didn't have a new ending like the previous four times. Instead it repeated the same ending from the second dream; the portal rose from the base of the tower, already in state of disrepair. The rift seated within the crumbling obsidian frame flashed violently between its usual purple and the sickly green we had come to know so well. Once it had risen to its highest point, the entire portal began to shudder and shake, as if by a violent earthquake, spraying small fragments of obsidian and dust into the air. Then, with a final lurch and an ear-splitting crack, the portal shattered into billions of minuscule fragments... I don't know whether that was a good sign or not; I still hadn't told anyone, but there must be some significance to having the same dream with the same ending twice... I think when we get back to the base camp I'm going to have to tell someone. I might tell Amie first and see if she can make anything of it. She's smart enough to at least make an intelligent decision as to whether it's worth telling the others.

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     Despite the repeat of the dream I've had before, I woke up with remnants of my elated mood from yesterday. Not only had we somehow manage to defend ourselves from a potentially fatal encounter with HoN Co., but we now also possessed three Eyes of Ender. We would still need to return to the base camp and hide the two we had with us now, before trying to find the two that HoN Co. possessed. We held the slight upper hand in this conflict, but that would only make it harder for us to remain hidden from HoN Co.... If they hadn't already, I could imagine them bringing the Elite into the mix now. Which reminded me: I wonder if there's been any sign of SERVERE back from investigating The End more thoroughly at HoN Co. headquarters...? When I thought of that, a worrying image came to mind. What if the guards that had managed to take the other two Eyes had taken them back to the HoN Co. headquarters? We had no idea where they were, and if SERVERE didn't come back soon we would be like sitting ducks, stuck with nothing to do, a massive target to HoN Co.! I cast that thought from my mind and tried to settle on something a little more cheery. I would be seeing Amie again in a few hours time, and that was all I needed to put me back into my happy mood.

"How do you think COLUS is going to react to us only having sixty per cent of the Ender Eyes...?"

"Sixty per cent? Why don't you just say three...? He knows there's only five in total, so he'll understand that... And hopefully he'll be understanding. We set out to find them knowing full well that HoN Co. was here doing the exact same thing. There was bound to be some conflict between us..."

"To be honest I suppose we'd still be in the same position, regardless whether we had four of the Eyes or only one. We'd still need to gain access to the HoN Co. base and take the ones we don't have."

I piped up and posed the question that had occurred to me earlier, and asked whether it was possible that HoN Co. would have taken the Eyes they had to their headquarters. I thought it was definitely possible as that's exactly what I would have done; once in possession of them all, I would have hidden them as far from the Nether and everyone else as possible.

"I suppose it's possible, but that would really mess things up for us. Then again we're not expecting HoN Co. to make things easy for us... I wouldn't be surprised if they've already done that, but we've got SERVERE to help us find the way..."

"A few problems: what if SERVERE isn't back yet, how would we get to their headquarters, and most importantly, how would we get in and out without attracting their attention and getting ourselves killed?"

"We'd just have to wait for SERVERE to come back, but as for getting there and remaining hidden, I can only hope that SERVERE would be able to provide a lot of assistance in that way..."

"The thing is, we're going to have to be careful about how much we ask SERVERE to do for us, because it could mean HoN Co. become more and more suspicious of his actions. I wouldn't be surprised if HoN Co. are still monitoring him with other Elite soldiers on a different task..."

"I don't see how we'd have any other choice. It's not like SERVERE can 'procure' a few of those stealth suits for us, and let us wander around the headquarters unnoticed. They would have security measure in place; infra-red, CCTV, motion sensors... Stuff that a stealth suit wouldn't be able to hide from..."

"We don't know much those stealth suits can do. Up until a few weeks ago, we didn't even know if that type of technology was even in use by anyone! Now we've found out we could be being spied on by HoN Co. soldiers wearing those suits..."

As we continued, I turned my attention to assessing our surroundings, wishing I hadn't brought the subject of the HoN Co. HQ into question...

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     We were nearly home now; the Nether stone steps leading back up to the base camp were now just in view, and my spirit rose considerably knowing I would soon be back somewhere safe - safer anyway... - and with Amie. I had missed her considerably since leaving for the second expedition, but I had tried to keep it hidden. If I thought about her all the time and how much I missed her, there would have been no way I would have been able to perform like I had in that room with the last Ender Eye. Crossing the final few metres, I took the steps two at a time, right to the top. Letting THEROS go first, I looked around the small area for Amie, leaving THEROS to deal with COLUS.

"Ah you're back! Great! Do you have them then...?"

"Good news and bad news... We have two of them..."

"And what of the other two?"

"Three guesses..."

"I had a feeling that might be the case. We should head back through the portal. No sense in staying here any longer than we need to. We've got a lot to discuss..."

"What about the other Eyes though...?"

"I've already got a plan in mind."

COLUS moved aside, revealing Amie, who had her back to me, working on something with OROTHO. She turned, and when she saw me, she ran straight to me. We hugged for what seemed like hours, and then I kissed her gently. It was good to be back!

Syeonyx signing off