Young Writers Society

Enide stood in front of Lex, glaring at her husband. "I hired a mage," she said. "Your sister spent a tad too much time with the diplomats, had a tad bit much to drink, and requested a healer. You see his hair, yes? Is that not the hair of a mage?"

Focusing on the blue locks, Shiruba shrunk back. "But why a human mage?" he said, voice starting to weaken.

"You know how readily gossip spreads in this court," Enide said. "I wanted to bring in someone who would garner the least attention possible. I had also grown rather concerned about the integrity of our healers, and decided not to take the risk. She is your sister, after all."

After a few seconds, Shiruba nodded. "Y-yes," he said, turning around. "Apologies. Take him to Amaya and see that she is well. We will also have to inspect our healers sometime, but after the festivities. I will ask among my advisers to find the head chef..." His voice trailed off as he walked away.

Sighing, Enide turned back and pulled Lex's hood back up. "I understand if that was frustrating," she said. "Shiruba forgets to relax sometimes. I will try to make amends later, but we must be on our way." She started walking forward again, turning down a hallway and waving for Lex to follow.

Lex watched as the king - Shiruba - walked down the hallway, pulling his hood further down with a gray-tinted hand before hurrying on after Enide. He desperately hoped that there wouldn't be anymore incidents. He wanted to ask about why Shiruba was so flustered, but decided it was best to keep his mouth shut in case they suddenly ran into anyone else.

Sure enough, only a couple more turns and hallways brought the two down a mostly empty one. A few lit candles stood on plates suspended from the ceiling, swinging back and forth where the doors would've been. Now that they'd gone so far away from the outside of the palace, the crowd had shrunk and the lights had dimmed. A single door on the other end of the hallway was the only hint, beyond the candles, that anyone went to this place at all.

Enide walked up and knocked on it gently.

"Huh?" said the voice on the other side. It was a little drawn out and weak, like the speaker was in pain. "Is that the healer I sent for?"

Enide rolled her eyes and knocked again.

"Enide?" the voice said.

After the loud click of a lock being opened, a fox pulled the door back. Wearing a white dress that extended from her shoulders to her knees, she smelled vaguely of alcohol. Red and gray fur on her exposed arms, matted in some places, caught the shadows of the candlelight. She looked exhausted, but the smile on her face was as big and real as ever.

"What do I owe the pleasure?" the fox said, before looking at Lex. "Oh dear, is he-"

"He is," Enide said. She gestured from Lex to the fox. "I have said this quite a few times," she said to Lex, "But I would like to apologize. I did not want anyone to overhear who we might be visiting. You remember Amaya from the underground city, yes? She is Shiruba's sister."



As a rule of thumb, he didn't know how to interact with anyone who knew his grandfather personally.

Shiruba walked down the halls, muttering to himself. He shouldn't have snapped at Enide. Not that she would take it poorly, but mostly because she always had a reason. She'd always had a reason. He hated that sometimes; sometimes he wanted a less effective queen. It would certainly make him a bit more secure about himself.

And he just didn't know how to deal with Fenella. 140 years hadn't done anything to stop her - she still had the appetite of a lion, the strength of a bear, and the wit of his queen. She was still firmly disinterested in him and his pomp and splendor, liked making comparisons to his grandfather, and enjoyed everything that he didn't understand, like parties and crass jokes. She was a lot more like his sister, in all honesty. Maybe he'd pair them together tomorrow.

But he was exhausted, and he had plenty of time to take a nap. The King opened the door to his room, slammed it shut, and began to disrobe. In one corner of the large room, the wood had been replaced with stone to accommodate a hot tub that boiled gently, per his specifications. Otherwise, the room looked a lot like his wife's - bed, closet, desk, though with a narrow window that overlooked one of the palace's private gardens. Both the garden and the room were well-kept, and Shiruba breathed in the incense that had just been lit. His muscles relaxed and he cast aside whatever he was thinking.

Just in time to see that something was sitting on his bed.

Slipping his robes back on, Shiruba pulled out his sword, setting it alight. "Who is that?" he yelled, reaching for the curtains and yanking them back.

Lex immediately relaxed when the name registered. He remembered Amaya; in retrospect, he should have guessed that Enide would take him to someone who had met him before, rather than a complete stranger. He gave her an awkward, nervous smile, not quite sure how she would take the proclamation that he was Lex. He knew he kind of looked like Aleks, but the resemblance was so small that he wasn't sure it would really make sense.

“Hi,” he said. He kept his voice quiet, not sure if it was safe to speak loudly or not. “I know I look...different, but I'm Lex. I was sharing a body with Aleks, the man who kept growling and swearing.” Even if she couldn't put a name to the other chosen's face, he was sure she would remember Aleks based on his personality.

Everyone did.

The thought of his friend made his smile finally seem natural; it was a gentle, truly happy expression. Then the smile faltered—he must have disappeared without a trace. Aleks would be simultaneously furious and worried. The last time he had been suddenly whisked away was when Zephyrus had staged his death and kidnapped him.

He would have to figure this out soon and get back before Aleks did something stupid.


Two could play at that game.

Aleks rose from the bed, readying the sword that had been resting on the mattress. It was bold of the newcomer to try attacking him when he had surely brought him here in the first place. The former wither skeleton let out a low, angry growl. He didn't linger on how abnormal his latest enemy's appearance was—he had more important things to be dealing with.

“What did you do with him?” he demanded. He could easily disarm the man in front of him if he wanted to, but he had no intentions of doing so. He took an intimidating step forward. “Where did you take the b******?”

Lex was gone. He had been gone for only a handful of minutes, but there had been no indication of where he was going. One moment, they were sparring. The next, his blade was hitting air instead of metal. This mob—or player, or whatever he was—had to be responsible. Why else would he have suddenly be in this room instead of storming down the hallway towards Télos's room?

Amaya and Enide stared at Lex for a few seconds, unsure of what to say to the idea of Lex and Aleks breaking apart.

"Yeah," Amaya said, breaking the silence with a smile. "You smell right. And I can't say I liked your buddy all that much." She turned and walked into the room, Enide right behind her.

It was about what Enide had last remembered - a single bed in mostly bare room. Beyond a window looking over a private garden, the only sign that anyone lived there was a nightstand with a candle, a couple of bottles hidden under a blanket in one corner, and the mussed up bedsheets that Amaya slipped back into. She had always hated living with family, so the room lacked her charms and vibrancy, thought it did have her husband sitting on a stool beside the bed. The tiger's muscles rippled as he pulled himself up uncertainly, black robes bulging and straining. The light from the window caught the gold mask on the right half of his face, briefly blinding Enide. She stepped out of the way as he approached Lex.

"A pleasure to meet you?" the tiger said, extending a hand. Back bent and eyes darting wildly, he looked spooked at the idea of meeting someone unfamiliar. "I'm Rekan."

"This is Lex," Amaya said from the bed, turning onto her side to look at him. "Remember me telling you about him? Half of that Lexal person?"

Rekan straightened up ever so slightly. "Ah," he said, paw still extended as he looked back at Amaya. "He's okay, then?"

Amaya nodded. Rekan breathed a sigh of relief and looked back to Lex.

"How, how have you been?"



"What in Fayne are you talking about?" Shiruba spat, taking a battle stance. "I have no recollection of taking anyone, much less a b******. Of which I am not. You had best either make your case or surrender, before I call my guards on you."

He shook Rekan's hand, giving the tiger a warm smile before drawing his hand away. "It's nice to meet you," he said. Rekan seemed scared and wary of him; not Aquarius-scared, but scared enough for him to pause. He knew that it wasn't because this man saw him as a player - or, at least, not a player in the sense of Minecraftia. Maybe he didn't like humans, either, even though he didn't fully look the part anymore.

"I've been doing pretty good," he said, answering the question. There was so much to cover over the course of the past year - finding out about Télos's mother, finding the new chosen, realizing who Aquarius and Zephyrus were, and ended up like this after getting his soul put inside of a wither. But it wasn't like he could easily cover that without letting them know the fully story, and something told him they probably didn't have time for that right now. "I've just been...busy."


"You took him," Aleks insisted, his voice a low growl. He kept his gaze trained on the man's face, but he was really keeping his attention focused on the sword - he could take him by surprise if he didn't think Aleks was paying attention to the battle at hand. "He disappeared, and then I ended up here - you must have done something to him!"

He took another step forward.

"I'm not going to lose him again," he said. "Tell me where he is, and maybe I won't run my f****** sword through your f****** heart."

"I would not expect it to be any less busy," Enide said, walking over to the shuttered window. "When do you plan on returning home, Amaya?" She pulled back the blinds and looked out over the garden.

Amaya groaned, pulling the bedsheets over her head. "As soon as I can," she said, voice muffled. When Rekan sat down on the bed beside her, she reached out a hand to rest on his shoulder. The tiger smiled ever so faintly, the mask covering most of it. "After this stupid meeting with the wolf queen thing wraps up."

A long pause. "Would you rather leave sooner?" Enide said. Her voice sounded strained.

Rekan frowned as Amaya pulled her head out of the bedsheets. "Enide, what's going on?"

"I do not believe we will have an easy time leaving the palace if we wait," Enide said, turning back to stare at Amaya. "It seems someone - I suspect a companion of our poor friend - is presently fighting the King."



"I would like to see you try," Shiruba said. The flames on his sword roared. "I suspect your companion is human, and I do not deal with humans. If he were ever caught, he would most certainly have been kicked out of this palace. Unlike you, if you persist."

Even though there was no other clue to who that person was besides the bit about fighting the king, Lex knew immediately who it had to be. There were a couple people who might have fought someone if they were suddenly whisked away to another place - Glow, maybe Stesa and certainly Aleks - but it was the last one who would do it without any doubt, especially when his friend was surely convinced that something horrible had happened to him.

"It's Aleks," Lex said. There wasn't any doubt in his voice.


Aleks faltered.

He lowered his sword ever so slightly, narrowed eyes studying the man as he processed his words. "You called me a human," he said, his voice no longer as much of a growl as before. Only the players used that word - everyone else called them players on Minecraftia. This man wasn't a player, but it did make him pause. Memories of an underground city came flooding back to him. This man hadn't been present, but similar people had been.

If what he was saying really was true, then Lex wouldn't be out in the open. Players weren't accepted. While he only looked the part, Lex was actually a player. He would have known the risks.

He grabbed the bandages from the bed. In a swift motion, he wrapped them around his sword's blade and slipped the weapon back onto his back. He easily moved past the man - after all, he had been trained in battle since he was old enough to walk - and ducked out into the hallway. Once he was there, he relied on the shadows as his cover. Changing his outfit if he could find one might have been helpful, but he had no way to hide his distinctively player-esque appearance.


He watched the people moving about in the halls, studying their features and memorizing them as they passed his hiding spot. It was quite ingenious, if he did say so himself - he had turned his body into a shadowy form and plastered himself up against the wall. No one looked twice in the direction of the shadows when he blended in so seamlessly.

But he eventually gathered all the information he needed. He effortlessly took on a form that was a mix between the different people he had seen - the coloring of one, the height of another, and the eye color of a third. He copied the outfits, too, hoping that it would do its job and make him stand out less.

Then he slipped into the light of the hallway, and began his search for Enide.

Enide took a long, deep breath. "And I suppose it would be too much to ask for that the two of you were not the only ones to be brought here?" she said, turning back to Lex. "I had hoped to whisk you away without issue, but if that is your volatile friend, we may have to adjust our plans. More so if you are not the only ones."

"Well," Amaya said, beaming as she puffed up her pillow and flopped back down on it. "I'm pretty happy about this, if this is Aleks we're talking about here. I hope he kicks the s*** out of Shiruba."

Enide rolled her eyes and went back to looking out the window. "Firstly," she said, "He is my husband, and you know perfectly well my opinions on your stance that he is a fox someone should "kick the s*** out of". He has not deserved as much in a long time. Secondly, it appears Aleks is gone."

"Gone?" Amaya said. Her voice sounded a little restrained now. "Did they carry him off or something?"

Turning around and leaning against the windowsill, Enide shook her head. "My husband seems rather dazed," she said, focusing on Lex. "I have to imagine that Aleks slipped away somehow. Not that Shiruba will not act on it; I expect to have soldiers in this room shortly. As I doubt we can make our escape, and neither remaining option seems particularly favorable, I leave the choice to you, Lex. Should we attempt to hide, or should we be honest about our presence here?"



What?

He'd been right there. Standing on his bed. He'd actually hesitated. And then he'd wrapped up his sword and vanished in a blur. Who was he? What was he?

Ah, he had looked strange. So had the young person that Enide had been dragging along with her.

Shiruba growled as the door flung open and his guards stepped in. "My King!" one said, walking in front of him and saluting him. Their helmet covered more of their face, though their ears protruded out. "Are you alright?"

"I am fine," Shiruba hissed. He straightened him, raising his chin. "A human threatened to assault me in my own bedroom, but nothing came of it."

"And should we look for them?" the guard said.

"Of course!" the King said, throwing up his arms. "Bring that fool to me so I can confirm his identity before I toss him into a cell! I suspect that my wife may have kidnapped his companion to tend to Amaya, so I would like some of you to accompany me to visit my sister."

Some of the guards filtered out, their bootsteps echoing down the hallway. With a sweep of his robes, Shiruba gestured for the others to follow as he walked out into the labyrinth that was the palace.

Lex knew he should be weighing the two options, but he felt like he already knew the answer before she had even finished asking the question. Running his hands through his hair, he said, "I think we need to tell the truth. Your husband is going to have questions about who we are and why we're here. I don't think we know enough about your world to pretend, if he manages to track Aleks down and confronts me."

There was also the possibility that other people from their world had ended up here as well, but he didn't want to linger on that possibility. Depending on who those people were, it could either turn out great or go horribly wrong.


He wandered the halls. His disguise worked excellently; he was rarely paid more than a glance or two, and simple greetings were the only comments he received. He could ask for Enide's location, but that would likely draw attention to him. He had to wait for a clue - an overheard snippet of a conversation, a glimpse of a familiar face, or something else that would lead him to her.

But then he felt the hand on his shoulder.

"Excuse me?" a voice - young, masculine, and bordering between familiar and unfamiliar - asked from behind. He resisted the urge to cry out a swear in frustration, turning around and facing the owner of the voice instead. He was unsurprisingly looking at another fox, dressed in clothes similar to his own. Yet another fox stood behind the one who had spoken, peering over his shoulder at him with nervous eyes.

"Yes?" he asked, testing out the voice he had created for this form. It wasn't as good as his usual one, but there was nothing he could do now - he just had to stick with it until they finished this conversation.

"I'm looking for Enide," the fox explained. "I needed to discuss important foreign matters with her, along with my companion. Unfortunately, we've managed to lose track of her, and it would be greatly appreciated if you could point the two of us in the right direction."

He stared at the fox long and hard.

And then he put his hand down on his shoulder.

"Zeph, it might be a better idea to pretend you know where you are the next time you're trying to sneak around an unfamiliar place," he said. The ice demigod stiffened considerably at his touch and the comment, and his twin brother made a startled noise behind him.

But then Rius perked up.

"Télos?" he asked.

He nodded. "In the flesh-"

"At least I found one b******," a voice suddenly hissed from the shadows. Rius let out another startled cry at the noise, which, like with the last one, was promptly silenced the moment he seemed to remember he was trying to sneak around. Zeph somehow managed to grow even tense, but Télos immediately starting grinning the moment he heard that unforgettable voice.

"Hey, Aleks," he said, giving his chosen a wave.

The figure in the shadows - likely hidden because he didn't have the convenient ability to change his form like those of godly heritage did - gave a small nod to acknowledge the greeting.

"I had imagined you would say that," Enide said. She sighed and walked around the bed, sitting beside Rekan. Eyes on the door, she tapped her claws against her knees. "Such an inconvenience to your well-being, as more people will know about you, but I suppose I would rather have the full power of the throne behind me. The challenge will be explaining your identity in such a way that he would believe me, but I know that you can corroborate my story, Amaya. At the very least, he ought to listen to you."

Silence fell over the group. An obvious fact hung in the air - Amaya hated her brother. She couldn't stand seeing him, much less talking to him for any length of time. Perhaps it was asking too much of her, but Enide wasn't quite sure how Shiruba was going to buy the idea that the both of them, alongside Lex and Aleks, had been transported to another dimension once, or even simply that Lex and Aleks weren't from this world.

Rekan looked over at Lex. "What do you think about the King?" Rekan said. "I, don't like him very much."



Shiruba, guards assembled in rows behind him, turned a corner and paused at the start of a hallway. He grit his teeth. Of course there would be a couple of servants standing there, gossiping and ignoring their duties.

"Scatter!" he said, waving them off. "Back to your work!"

"I only just met him," Lex admitted. "We ran into him on the way over. I, uh, don't really have a good idea of what he's like, since it was only one meeting..."

He had hated that meeting, but he didn't want to risk offending those present. Amaya was his sister, Enide was his wife and Rekan must have known him personally. The king was nothing like the rulers he was used to, even though he knew the gods of Minecraftia were more than a little unusual in their leadership. Télos was pushing for a democracy. Hero ran a faction, more than anything else, and Oracle was just an overseer of the Nether.


Aleks quietly swore from the shadows, which Télos hastily covered up with a very loud coughing fit. Something told him that Aleks and whoever this man was - likely some very important person in Enide's government - had already met in the short time his chosen had been here. From the sheer number of guards the fox had with him, it couldn't have ended well.

What did you do?

I threatened him, Aleks nonchalantly replied, his attention undoubtedly wandering to the threat posed by the guards. I thought he kidnapped Lex.

So Lex is missing, too?

What else do you think?

Télos let out a quiet sigh. He should have expected a response like that from the more confrontational of his chosen. You probably should have asked him if he had seen Lex. Now we've got to pretend we're from here, and I don't even know how I'm supposed to let Zeph and Rius know what's going on without the angry man and his squadron finding out.

Thanks for the advice, Aleks drily replied. I'll remember it for the next time we get f***** whisked off to another world.

The entire time this mental conversation had been going on, Zephyrus and Aquarius had been watching both the newcomers and their brother. Zephyrus kept up the guise of being an obedient servant, tugging on Télos's sleeve in an attempt to get his attention and avoiding meeting the man's gaze.

But Aquarius hadn't been doing as much of a good job.

It was only when he heard a terrified whimper that Télos tore his gaze away from the man, and turned to see that Aquarius's form had returned to its original. His little brother wasn't good at holding a form when he was stressed or scared - he should have expected that it was going to give up eventually.

Rekan nodded. "That's okay," the tiger said. "He's mean. Not as mean as he used to be, but he's the reason I have this." He tapped on his mask.

"Yep," Amaya said. "He's s***."

Enide shot a glare at her.

"I mean," Amaya said, looking away, "Not as s***** as he used to be, but still pretty s*****."



Shiruba grit his teeth. How dare they just stand there, staring either at him or at the ground, with barely the slightest acknowledgment of his existence. He knew he was intimidating, but surely the palace servants knew better than to freeze up. Before he could act on his anger, though, one of them shifted into a human form.

A human with blue hair.

Pointing to the group in front of him, Shiruba yelled, "Arrest them!" His guards surged forward, some drawing out weapons.

"Oh," Lex quietly replied.

He was happy to change the topic, even if it was just by a little bit. "Is there any way that we can prove we're not from here?" Lex asked. "Maybe our magic works a little differently - or maybe our appearances would be good enough proof, since humans aren't supposed to have skin like ours, or hair like mine."


"Well," Télos said, clapping his hands together. "That was a flop."

Then he snapped - not afraid to make a little noise now that they weren't trying to sneak around - and let his form shift to the one he almost always used: a long black braid, golden eyes, a long black coat, and a trusty pair of boots.

Zeph quickly followed suit, easily dodging a thrust of a weapon and giving a slight spin as he regained his footing. In the short time it had taken for the spin, he had gone from fox to human in form. He jumped back, grabbed onto his twin and dragged Aquarius out of the way of an attack...

...nearly bumping into Aleks as the wither skeleton emerged from the shadows, sword unwrapped and in one hand.

"Watch where you're f****** going!" Aleks hissed.

"Sorry," Zeph apologized. "I was a little more preoccupied with rescuing Aquarius-"

He faltered when said twin suddenly doused the people in front of them with a strong burst of water, knocking the guards closest to them off of their feet while simultaneously soaking them. As Télos summoned his golden sword, Zeph took the opportunity - a strong burst of cold air aimed right at the soaked guards. Even though he wasn't standing in its direct line of fire, Télos shivered as it brushed past him.

Zeph let go of Aquarius.

"Nice one," Zeph said, holding his hand out for a high five.

Aquarius hesitated, then completed it. Télos didn't think a battle was the best time for a high five, but he didn't question it - Zeph thrived in making up for lost time. Instead, he started to wonder if this was really the best idea.

"You know," Télos mused, jumping over the knocked over guards and heading towards their leader. "It might have been a better idea to run - this is going to be a major hassle for Enide, isn't it?"

"They attacked first," Aleks growled.

Zeph stretched. "You probably have a point," he admitted, "but Aleks has one too."

Télos stopped in front of the leader and glanced over his shoulder. "Yeah, but diplomacy is a mess that I don't like to tackle," he said. "I wouldn't wish it on the worst of my enemies."

Aquarius awkwardly cleared his throat. "...So...um...are we just going to keep fighting or...?"

Télos turned back to the leader. "Actually, I was thinking a nice chat was in order," he answered. He gave the leader a grin. "Assuming this guy wants to give it. You wouldn't be able to point us in Enide's direction, would you?"

Enide nodded. "Quite true," she said. "My husband does not have a great amount of experience around humans, but he may have to acknowledge some truth to your story if he notices your appearance. He never did focus on your skin - mostly your hair."

Hearing those last few words, Rekan turned his head to Lex, noticing the pulsing blue hair. The tiger tentatively extended a paw, silently asking permission from Lex.

Smiling faintly, Enide turned to look at Amaya. "And you need not say anything. Merely a confirmation of my story would be nice. He listens to you."

Huffing and crossing her arms, Amaya, now staring at the ground, nodded. "Fine," she said. "But I don't want to see his face."

"That can be arranged," Enide said. She immediately pulled up some of the blankets and draped them over Amaya's head.

Amaya snorted. "Nice one," she said.



Shiruba pulled out his sword as the attackers approached. They'd knocked out his guards, drenched him, and left him freezing, but he figured he still had the advantage when it came to speed. And, of course, the flames that his sword now let off.

"What could you possibly want with my wife?" he said. He already knew the answer - he saw the friend of the man she'd kidnapped. But he wasn't about to admit where she could possibly be. Even if it was her mess, he didn't think even she could handle these humans. The wind, in particular, had reminded him of a certain angry and blonde human. These weren't people who could be negotiated with. He wasn't going to negotiate with them.