The Underground City

Well, that had been rather enlightening. Enide had guessed that Telós had done some awful things. He'd stiffened in the conversation on experimentation, ran into a closet to cry, and, most importantly, Enide was familiar with remorseful faces.

One question still lingered in her mind. "Why such despair, though?" Enide says. "The present him should have no memory of his past self, and they appear to be two entirely dissimilar individuals. Why grieve for the injustices that he, in effect, did not commit?"

Lex took a deep breath and got to their feet. "He feels like he should have been able to stop himself, and that he's responsible for it. It doesn't help that all of the End knows of him as their old oppressor. Because they don't have a working government yet, Télos is still in charge there. Obviously things have changed, but it's hard for him to ignore his past when he overhears the endermen talking about it."


Télos pulled his legs even closer to his body and let out another sob. He could feel his tears staining his pants as he listened to bits and pieces of the conversation going on outside. He had known that they would have to eventually tell the truth, but it had been nice pretending that he was just a normal, good god. Not that he had ever been, really. He still remembered after the battle a little over a year ago. Even though he was gladly welcomed back by Hero and Oracle, he had noticed how wary both of them were for the first days - they had both been checking to make sure he really was how he had been before the Great War.

He took a deep breath and ducked his head down.

"Télos?" a familiar voice suddenly asked.

He raised his head. His best friend was standing only a short distance away, just as he remembered seeing him last - same blue t-shirt, same jeans and same sneakers. Letting out another anguished sob, he ducked his head back down. Of course he was beginning to imagine things. Of course. That was the natural next step, right? Before he knew it, his wife would be there too.

"Télos, where are we? How did I get here?" Hero asked.

Télos couldn't bring himself to look up at him when he replied. "You already know that."

"No, I do not. Télos, what is going on?"

He sobbed even harder. Why couldn't he just catch a break? He was sure this version of Hero was going to start taunting him or something - wasn't that how things went in stories? Here Hero was to taunt him about his past, pretending that he had no idea that he was a figment of his imagination.

Télos raised his head. Deciding that he didn't want to argue with someone who wasn't even there, he made a small gold nugget appear in his hands and threw it in Hero's direction.

It hit his cheek and fell to the ground.

Hero gave him a blank stare. Télos gave an equally blank one back.

His best friend raised a hand up and touched the injured cheek. "Why did you throw that at me?"

He frantically wiped his tears away. Normally the sight of Hero would have made him cry more, but he was just grateful his best best friend was here to. He got to his feet and hurried over to him. "I thought you were a figment of my imagination," Télos admitted. "Guilt does fun stuff to your brain. Anyways, Lexal here's too, as well as a whole host of other people. Don't ask me where here is, because none of us have any idea."

Hero gave a slow nod.

Bo listened to them explain Télos's story solemnly, but got distracted when he heard another voice coming from inside the room where Télos was. He stared at the door, completely taken out of the conversation.

Hero started to head towards the door, but Télos grabbed onto his shoulder before he had a chance to open it. "Uh, before you go," he said, slipping in front of his best friend so he didn't open the door without Télos having given him the information he needed to know. "The people here are from all sorts of places. You, me and Lexal are the only ones from Minecraftia - or even Earth, probably, if we're going off of some of their appearances."

Hero nodded again. "Thank you for telling me."

"You're welcome," he said. He grinned. "I didn't want you to try running Iroas through them. Even though Lexal hasn't said anything yet, I'm pretty sure they tried doing the same with their own sword. So...yeah. That's basically all I know right now, and the extent of what everyone else knows, too."

He stepped aside and let Hero open the door.

He followed him out into the hallway, coming to a stop beside his best friend as Hero took the sights of everyone in. Lexal straightened when they noticed that two gods had emerged from the room instead of two, and Lex went as far as offering a greeting - Aleks, of course, would never do something like that.

"Hey, Hero," Lex said, smiling.

"Hello, Lex," Hero replied, eyes growing brighter for a brief moment as he returned the smile. "And hello, Aleks."

Aleks grumbled back something that was probably a hello.

She'd heard two voices, but was surprised when two people walked out of the closet. Enide had assumed a situation like Lexal's - two people sharing one body. But, as usual, she hid any surprise behind a blank expression.

"I suppose another round of introductions are in order?" she said, gesturing to the newcomer.

"That sounds good to me!" Bo said with a smile. "I'm Bo!"

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Bo," Hero said, giving a smile. He looked expectantly at the other people present for introductions from them as well, only for Télos to nudge him with his elbow.

"You forgot to give your own name," he whispered.

"But Lex already mentioned it-"

"They probably think it's a nickname," Télos pointed out. "Hero's not exactly a normal name, even among the mobs."

He hesitated, then nodded in agreement. "My name is Hero. I am the god of light and the stars."

"And I am Enide," she said, bowing. "What an honor to meet another god. I suppose there must be quiet a few of you?"

Hero, Télos and Lexal all were silent for a moment.

It was Lex who finally answered the question, casting a glance over in the direction of the two quiet gods. "There's just three," he said. "There's Télos, Hero and Oracle. That's it."

"The rest were killed in the Great War," Hero continued. His face was an emotionless mask. "We were the only survivors."

Bo's heart sank, and he gave Hero and Télos a respectful bow of his head.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," he said quietly.

"Thanks," Télos quietly said, giving a small smile in Bo's direction as a sign of gratitude.

Casey blinked at the new person, his head swimming with the casual conversations about gods. His glowing hair pulsed faintly with a greenish-yellow. It took him a moment to realize that introductions were being passed around again.

"Oh! My name is Casey." He gave a weak wave and then glanced over at the winged man with an eye-patch, who hadn't introduced himself to begin with.

Sevy patted the head of his demon-cat, listening intently. He heard the younger boy stutter a greeting and smiled in amusement.

"I'm Sevy Dawner." He nodded at Casey and then turned his smile to the rest of the group.

"It is a pleasure to meet the two of you, Casey and Sevy Dawner," Hero said, drawing his attention away from his grief as he gave a slight nod of his head in their direction. "You two look...unusual, from what Lex and Phoenix have told me about what players truly look like. Why do the colors of your hair change, Casey? And why, Sevy Dawner, do you have wings?"

Casey blushed at the eyes that were now focused on him. He shifted foot to foot and cleared his throat before answering Hero.

"It's a- mutation, that's all." He forced out.

Sevy frowned a little at Casey. He had been listening to he and Bo's conversation as they had been walking, and still had several questions for the boy. It would just be cruel to put him on the spot now, so he said nothing except in answer for himself.

"Oh, I'm a Chicanob- an angel." He smiled politely. "Basically, just some ancient magic-y stuff."

"Should it be appropriate to ask," Enide said, turning to Casey and his colorful hair, "What is a mutation? I am familiar with the word, but it appears that you have a different context for it."