The One Who Lived: Chapter 11

     Lydia was beginning to think that waking up in a strange place after being unconscious was becoming a habit. Or a curse. Either worked.
     This time however, she wasn't in a soft bed. She was in a cold and damp stone room that smelled like decay and burning flesh. She was lying next to a pile of bones. There was a heavy weight on her wrists and she noticed that she was chained to the muddy floor.
     She also noticed she wasn't the only one in the dungeon. A man with dark, ebony skin and snow white dread locks was chained across the room, his eyes closed. His arms hung high above his head that lolled to one side.
     "Excuse me?" Lydia whispered. He bobbed his head slightly.
     "Excuse me!" She said loader. He slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes. They were ruby red and seemed to glow in the darkness of the room.
     "What?" He grunted.
     "Do you know where we are?" He chuckled slightly.
     "We're in hell, honey." Her eyes widened.
     "What?! What do you mean?!" He laughed again, but didn't say anything. Lydia thrashed against her chains. "What do you mean?! Who are you?!" He abruptly stopped laughing.
     "I am Ulysses, the Dark Lord's top general and top advisor." She calmed.
     "You work for Herobrine?" He nodded. "Then why are you locked in here?"
     "Medusa doesn't like people interfering with her plans." They were both silent for a moment.
     "But what I don't understand is why Herobrine let you be locked here. I mean if he and Medusa and working together-"
     "They aren't working together." Ulysses interrupted. "Why would you think that?"
     "B-because…"
     "They'd never work together. Herobrine is actually trying to stop Medusa." Lydia blinked.
     "You mean, he was trying to protect me?" He nodded. "I…I had no idea." The large iron door swung open and a skeleton guard walked in, a bow strapped to his back. He walked to Lydia's chains and, pulling out a key, unlocked them.
     "Get up!" He rattled. She didn't move. "I said get up!" He kicked her in the stomach. She yelped in pain and curled up into a ball, gasping for air. The guard was about to kick her again when a woman spoke from the doorway.
     "Guard! Stop that! There's no need to harm our honored guest."
     "But Milady, she isn't cooperating."  
     "That doesn't mean you can beat her to death." Medusa said, shoving the guard aside. She leaned forward and gave Lydia a cold smile. "You're going to stand up and you're going to follow me. Got it?" Lydia reluctantly nodded and stood up. "Good girl."
     Medusa led Lydia through dozens of dimly lit hallways. The walls were obsidian and covered in rich tapestries depicting horrible scenes. Beast hunts, murders, hordes of spiders attacking villages. Lydia cringed at the wall hangings and looked at the maroon rugs. They climbed a spiraling set of staircase of stairs and entered a large hall. A glowstone 'sun' hung from the ceiling providing light.
     Skeletons milled around the room and a group of them were huddled around a 12-foot square pit of lava. Hovering above the pit was a frame the same size as the lava pit. A set of stairs led up to the frame. Medusa led Lydia to these stairs, grabbed her by the neck and threw her down onto the stairs.
     "Guard!" She called. The skeleton that had been the prison guard hurried forward with another set of chains. He quickly chained Lydia to a hook on the stairs.
     "What now?!" Lydia screamed as Medusa walked away. "Are you going to kill me?!" Medusa grinned.
     "Oh in good time. But I can't yet. Not until my scout returns. Then I will kill you."
*
     Herobrine and the cast of Yog had to travel 7km in the Nether, the equivalent of 56km in the overworld, before they reached the right portal. Then they had to dig down. Medusa's palace was pure obsidian and completely underground. Xephos noted that the farther they dug down, the more anxious Herobrine became.
     While Honeydew happily dug [with the help of Fumblemore's 'magic'], Xephos walked over to Herobrine who was standing, drumming his fingers nervously on the handle of his shovel. The spaceman shoved his shovel blade into the ground and leaned on the shaft.
     "You know, you could pick up your shovel and help. Or wave your hand and make the dirt disappear." He said casually.
     "The protection Medusa has on her castle and the surrounding ground is beyond my comprehension. I wouldn't be able to get rid of it."
     "Then pick up the shovel and help dig!" Xephos said. Honeydew yelled from the hole.
     "We've hit obsidian!" There was a series of clicks. Everyone was quiet as Honeydew used his diamond pick to break an opening in the obsidian roof. Herobrine slid down the sides of the hole and crouched next to Honeydew, looking inside the opening for guards. There were none. He motioned for the rope they had brought and dropped it through the opening, handing the end to Honeydew. Then Herobrine slid down the rope, landing quietly and gracefully. He drew his sword and motioned for the others to join him. Honeydew handed the rope to Fumblemore's brother Swampy, who would be staying on the surface, and slid down the rope. The others followed.
     They slowly crept down the halls, their weapons drawn, until they reached the huge wooden doors of the great hall, ornately carved with scenes similar to those in the tapestries. Herobrine hesitated at the door.
     "What are you waiting for?!" Orion whispered harshly.
     "Uh…I-" Herobrine was interrupted b a load shriek of pain. "Lydia!" He pushed the doors open. Medusa was standing over Lydia with a bloody knife in her hand. Lydia was chained and her right side was bleeding profusely. Medusa tossed the knife behind her and walked away from the bleeding girl, toward Herobrine and his ragtag team.
     "Oh Herobrine, I'm afraid you're too late." She cooed.
     "But how?" He stuttered. "The flute…."
     "You mean this flute?" She snapped and a skeleton with an ornate gold belt hurried forward with a velvet pillow. On the pillow was a wooden flute with silver designs broken in half. She snapped again and another skeleton with an ornate gold belt hurried forward with a velvet pillow. But on this pillow was a dark indigo sphere, glowing and sparkling. Medusa picked up the pearl and twirled it around in her palm. She then walked back to Lydia and poured a handful of the girl's blood over the pearl. The pearl absorbed the blood and a sliver of black formed in the center of the pearl, making it look like an eye. Then she held in out in her palm towards Herobrine.
     Herobrine fell to his knees and gasped. He could feel the energy being sucked out of him as the pearl stole his powers. The humming that he always felt in his hands suddenly died and his vision clouded. When he could see clearly he looked at his reflection in his sword. He looked the same accept his eyes. They were no longer pure white. They were normal. Normal gray mortal eyes. He swallowed.
     "You may have taken my powers," He said, slowly standing up. "but I will not let you kill the world I so painstakingly created!" He gripped his sword with all the energy he could muster and charged at the evil alchemist. Medusa snapped and a sword with a blue tinted crystal blade appeared in her hand. She easily countered Herobrine's attack.
     "You're powers are quite useful Herobrine." She said lunging. He ducked and the blade only grazed his shoulder. But this time he couldn't heal himself.
     As Herobrine and Medusa fought, skeletons armed with stone swords flooded into the hall. Skeletal archers lined a balcony that wrapped around the hall. Arrows began to fly and the rattling of bones filled the air.
     As the heroes fought through the skeleton hoard, more flooded in. Soon, Orion and Lucy were separated from the others. They stood back-to-back and fought off skeletons; Orion using his alchemy, Lucy her agility.
     "Lucy!" Orion shouted over the din of the battle. "I have a feeling we wont make it out alive!"  Lucy braced herself on Orion's back and kicked an approaching skeleton in the ribs.
     "And what made you realize that?! The fact that we're surrounded by skeletons?!" She punched another skeleton, bashing the skull to pieces.
     "I just wanted to tell you that-" His eyes glowed slightly red and he shot out a wave of green fire that ignited dozens of skeletons. "despite you being a skylord and all, I don't actually hate you." She pushed him out of the way as one of the skeletons lunged at them.
     "Well since we're getting things off our chests, I want you to know that I think-" Orion shot out another wave of fire. "you're kinda cute and not nearly as dumb as I thought you were." Orion grinned.
     "Well now that I think about it," He said. "You're pretty cute yourself, if a bit short." Lucy smirked, kicking another skeleton in the jaw.
     "Well your too tall." They both laughed.
     The only place where skeletons weren't congregated was a circle in the middle of the hall where Herobrine and Medusa were still fighting.
     "You can't defeat me Herobrine! I'm immortal now! Invincible!" Medusa cackled, swinging at Herobrine. He stumbled back as the tip of her sword sliced his forehead. Dark crimson blood flowed down his face and into his eyes. He quickly wiped it away with his sleeve. She'll kill me before I even scratch her! He blocked her blade and swung a wide arch at her stomach. He noticed that she was gripping the pearl and her hand was glowing slightly. The pearl! The pearl has my powers, not her! If I could just… Out of the corner of his eye he saw Xephos with a bow shooting diamond tipped arrows at the skeleton archers.
     "You're right Medusa. I can't defeat you." He grinned. "Not by myself at least!" Herobrine dropped his sword and grabbed both of her wrists. Despite not being a god anymore, he was still stronger than she was. "Xephos!" He shouted. "Shoot the pearl!"
     The spaceman turned and spotted the pearl in Medusa's struggling hand. He carefully pulled back his bowstring and let his last diamond tipped arrow fly. The hard tip pierced the pearl and sent shards of glass flying everywhere. Medusa screamed in fury and attempted to swing her sword at Herobrine. Herobrine kicked her and she fell to the ground, her sword flying into the air. He grabbed the sword midair and held it at her throat.
     "Shall I kill you?" He asked, digging the sword point deeper into her throat. "Maybe I should chain you up in your own dungeon and let you starve. Or should I throw you into the Nether and let you burn?" Medusa's chest rose and fell calmly.
     "Killing me won't bring her back." She sneered. "I've hurt you more than you could ever hurt me. You can't-" Her sentence ended in a gargle of blood. He threw down the crystal sword and picked up his own, slipping it back into the harness at his waist. At the death of their mistress, the skeletons in the hall rattled and fell to pieces.
     Herobrine slowly walked over to Lydia's bloody body. He fell to his knees and cradled her head in his lap. He stroked her cheek. Her smooth skin was still warm with life, but her chest was still. The blood had stopped flowing from her side, but her tunic was soaked with dark blood and clung to her body and chest.
     Tears splashed on her face. He couldn't help himself. He had just lost the one thing he loved in life. Love. That's what he felt. Love. He loved Lydia. He rested his forehead on hers and cried into her soft hair.