Ender Curse part 13 (Final)

The others quickly gathered around Xephos, staring at the device. They could clearly see the two different signals.

Both of the signals were weak, but they were still there.

Lalna's signal was still there. It could only be there if he was still alive.

“Oh my god,” choked out Xephos. “Lalna's still alive...”

“But... but we saw that thing stab him through the chest!” exclaimed Honeydew. “He even turned back into a human, and the poison started killing him!”

Xephos shook his head. “We would have know if he had died, right? We would have felt it...”

Sjin nodded. “But if it's still showing both of them, doesn't that mean the mutant is still alive too?”

No sooner did he say that than the mutant's signal on the tracker disappeared. And a split second later, an explosion rocked the ground, knocking them all to their knees. The sun disappeared and the sky above them suddenly turned as black as night, and the air became so cold they could see their breath. They could hear the distant sounds of explosions and feel the tremors in the sand beneath their feet.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!” shouted Sips in a panic as they all scrambled back to their feet.

“Do you remember what Lalna said...?” asked Xephos, having to nearly shout over the sounds of the explosions and the sudden howling wind that had almost knocked them over again. “He said the world was bonded to the mutant Enderman! It controlled who stayed and who left. If the mutant is dead, the world doesn't have anything to anchor it! It's going to crash!”

Another violent tremor shook the ground, nearly knocking them over.

“But if the mutant's dead, doesn't that mean we can leave?” asked Sips.

They all froze, and in that split second, they realized that they had regained the ability to jump from this world back home.

“But... Lalna can't leave,” said Sjin. “He can't leave until he's cured, right? We have to go get him!”

Xephos nodded. “You're right. We can't just leave him here...”

Honeydew stepped forward, holding up the portal the Endermother had given him. “Time to use this?”

Xephos nodded. They all then stepped into a small huddle, and Honeydew threw the portal at the ground.

It hit the sand with a sharp crack, and a thick purple smoke was released. It surrounded them, and a split second later, the wind and sound of the explosions stopped. They could still feel the tremors though.

They found themselves standing in front of the End Portal.

The portal wasn't lit, but they were expecting that. They had brought all the Eyes of Ender from the house, and they had the ones they collected from the dead Endermen in the desert.

As they completed the portal, however, Sjin brought up a very important question.

“Guys, what do you think we're going to find in there...?” he asked nervously.

Xephos stopped. “Well, so far the Overworld and the Nether have been insanely dangerous, so I wouldn't be surprised if the End is just as bad.”

Sjin started to look pale.

After another minute, they snapped the last Eye of Ender into place, and the portal sparked to life.

They all stepped away for a moment, checking to make sure they had everything and were ready to jump into whatever unknown horrors the End was harboring.

While everyone else was busy, Xephos stepped aside, still doing his best not to show how much pain he was in. He was dizzy and he could barely breathe. He tasted blood in the back of his throat.

Making sure nobody was looking, he faced the wall and lifted up his shirt, inspecting the damage the mutant had done by crushing his ribcage.

He was shocked at the damage. His entire abdomen was bruised black and purple, and on his right side, he could see that one of the bones had broken his skin and was sticking out.

He felt nauseous, but at the same time, he was amazed with how much adrenaline could dull pain. He was certain that as soon as this was over, he wouldn't be able to move, let alone breathe.

Taking shallow breaths to prolong the inevitable puncture of one or both of his lungs. Xephos strapped on a chest plate and pulled out his sword. He looked over at the others and saw that they too were ready.

The tremors were getting stronger and the sound of explosions were getting louder. The air slowly became colder. They were out of time.

“I just hope the End is the last to crash,” gasped out Xephos, glancing at the others as they all stepped up to the portal.

Then they all held their breath and jumped.

Five minutes later, the Overworld was destroyed.

XXX

The End was much colder than the Overworld. It always was, but it wasn't normally this bad.

They landed near the edge, but within seconds they were all on their feet, looking around. It all seemed suspiciously quiet.

They slowly walked deeper into the End. All around them stood Endermen, who didn't move. They simply watched them. None of them got angry when they were looked at.

They didn't even know where the Ender Dragon was.

And then they saw the blood. Dark, thick blood that glistened in the light of the crystals on the obsidian pillars.

They cautiously followed the trail to the center of the End. When they came around the corner of another pillar, they saw the disemboweled and decapitated body of the mutant Enderman.

Behind it, slumped over against another pillar, was Lalna. He wasn't moving, and there was a gaping wound on his chest from where the mutant had clawed him before teleporting him. His lab coat was torn to shreds, and his goggles were completely shattered, hanging around his neck. He was covered in blood that looked like a mix between his own and the mutant's. It looked like he was dead, but his signal still showed on the tracker.

They crept a bit closer, Xephos noticing that his hair was still black and his skin was still dark.

Honeydew pulled out the pendant, scanning around for a relatively short obsidian pillar that he could capture a crystal from.

Sips and Sjin were still looking around, paranoid about the mysterious lack of Ender Dragon. They hung back a bit from the other two, scanning the horizon for the distinct silhouette, listening for the chilling roar that always preceded an attack.

Xephos slowly made his way over to Lalna. He knelt down in front of him and reached out, carefully feeling for a pulse.

He couldn't find his heartbeat, and his skin was ice cold. He wasn't breathing either.

Xephos stared for a minute before turning to face Honeydew.

Before he could say anything, however, a loud roar cut through the cold air.

Everybody froze. Then they looked up.

The Ender Dragon had revealed herself. She was perched on top of the very pillar Lalna was leaning against. She glared down at them, baring her teeth.

But that wasn't what scared them. It was the fact that she had bright glowing blue eyes. And she was twice the size of a normal dragon.

With another roar, she took off, circling them.

“Uh, we need a plan!” exclaimed Honeydew.

Xephos gulped. “Sips, Sjin, keep the dragon distracted! Honeydew, get one of those fucking crystals! I'll stay with Lalna.”

They nodded, and Honeydew ran for the nearest pillar while Sips and Sjin ran towards the further edge of the End, taking shots at the dragon to keep her attention on them.

Xephos painfully knelt back down in front of Lalna, the taste of blood still strong in his mouth. He was starting to get dizzier as he lost more blood internally.

He felt for a pulse again, but still found nothing. Then he realized something. Lalna was still alive because he was in the End. All the crystals around him were constantly healing him, but none of them were close enough to actually cure him.

Just then, Xephos heard someone cry out. He looked over to see that the Ender Dragon had swooped down at Honeydew and come so close he fell off the ladder he had been climbing. When he fell, the pendant fell out of his hand and skidded across the Endstone, landing right at Sjin's feet. He picked it up and tossed it to Honeydew.

And then he got an idea.

“Honeydew!” he exclaimed, quickly firing an arrow as the dragon swooped at them. “I have an idea! Get the crystal! I know how to keep her distracted.”

“What the hell are you-” Sips stopped when he realized Sjin had run for one of the tallest pillars near the further edge of the End. He ran after him, while Honeydew, who realized what Sjin was going to do, ran back to the short pillar and climbed up again.

In the center of the End, Xephos watched with fear. The Ender Dragon was ignoring him and Lalna.

Then suddenly, as soon as Lalna's name crossed his mind, he felt himself being grabbed by the throat, and the next thing he knew, he had been slammed against the obsidian pillar, held by his throat.

Xephos gasped in shock and pain, nearly blinded by the white hot agony in his chest.

A second later, his vision cleared, and he could see.

Lalna was standing there, holding him by the throat. He was standing so still that Xephos could tell he still wasn't breathing and didn't have a pulse.

But it was Lalna's eyes that scared him the most.

They were completely purple, glowing bright against the darkness.

He didn't speak. He just stood there, holding Xephos and waiting for him to choke on his own blood.

Back on the far side of the End, Sips was still shooting at the Ender Dragon to keep it distracted. Honeydew had finished building a ladder up to the top of the pillar, and he was waiting for a signal from Sjin, who had managed to climb to the top of one of the tallest pillars.

They had figured out that when Honeydew tried to steal a crystal, the Ender Dragon would ignore the others and attack him.

Sjin hoped that by being level with the dragon, he could keep it's attention away from Honeydew. However, because he was so close to the crystals, the dragon kept circling him. Sips managed to keep the dragon at bay with the constant volley of arrows.

As soon as the dragon had flown far enough away, Sjin shouted to Honeydew.

“NOW!” he screamed.

Honeydew quickly jumped towards the crystal, holding out the pendant. The crystal shuddered and shook and was drawn in to the center of the pendant, shrinking to fit within the parameters. There was a sharp crackling noise, and then the process had finished. They had the Ender crystal.

And then Honeydew looked up and realized that the Ender Dragon was pissed. She was speeding straight towards him, and he knew he didn't have time to get out of the way.

Sjin saw this too. In a split second, he turned and smashed the crystal he was standing next to, causing it to explode. The blast left a large burn on his arm.

The Ender Dragon practically stopped midair and whipped around to face Sjin. It hovered there, only a hundred feet away from him, ignoring all the arrows Sips was shooting.

Sjin froze, not knowing what to do. He and the dragon stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Her glowing blue eyes seemed to pierce straight through him.

And then she opened her mouth and shot an enormous blast of icy fire at him. It hit him directly in the chest, and he staggered backwards and fell off the pillar.

Sips caught him and quickly pulled him around to the far side of the pillar, out of the dragon's sight. Then he carefully laid him down.

Sjin was trembling and gasping for breath. His eyes were open but they were glassy. There was a deep wound on the front of his chest, which was black with frostbite. Sips could see veins of ice creeping up his neck.

“Sjin,” he whispered. “Leave. Go back home.”

Sjin shook his head a bit. “I... can't...”

“Sjin, if you stay here you'll die. Go back home, I'll meet you there in a few minutes. We'll be fine here...”

Slowly, Sjin nodded and closed his eyes. A moment later, he vanished.

He had left the corrupted and dying world.

XXX

Lalna couldn't feel anything. He couldn't feel pain. He didn't feel tired. He didn't feel cold.

He felt like he was in a coma. In a trance.

He knew something was happening, but his mind was empty and silent, and his vision was purple and distorted.

Finally, he slowly began to hear a distant voice. It was calling to him. Saying a name that he recognized.

“Lalna...”

It took a moment for him to remember that this name seemed so familiar because it was his.

Someone was calling him.

Then his vision snapped into focus, and he saw himself holding Xephos by the throat. His friend looked unconscious, and there was so much blood coming out of his mouth that it had dripped down onto Lalna's arm and hand.

He jumped back with a gasp, suddenly starting to breathe again. His cold heart began to beat.

He dropped Xephos and quickly caught him under the arms, gently lowering him to the ground and leaning him up against the obsidian tower.

“Xeph...” he whispered, his voice rough. He shook his shoulder a bit, and after a breathless moment, Xephos coughed a bit and opened his eyes. He looked up at Lalna for a moment before closing his eyes again, barely breathing.

Lalna shook his head a bit, looking around. The others were too far away to help, and they all looked busy, with Sips shooting at the dragon and Honeydew and Sjin standing on the pillars.

He had to help Xephos by himself. But the Enderbeast was still close at hand. He could still feel it's rage, which had lingered since the first Change.

He felt his mind start to slip away, but he knew he couldn't allow it. The Enderbeast hated Xephos, and one more injury could kill him. He had to focus. Find an anchor. Just thinking of home wasn't enough. He needed a stronger emotion.

Pain. That would keep him human, even in a place like this.

He thought of the Endermother.

It worked. He felt like he was physically in pain thinking about her. She had given her life to save his. He wasn't about to waste it.

He thought of what she did. She had healed him. Used her own energy to accelerate his healing.

Taking a deep breath to stop his hands from shaking, he carefully reached out and gently placed his hands on Xephos' bleeding chest.

He had only just figured out how to heal himself. He had no idea how to heal someone else.

He thought about what the Endermother had taught him. To create a channel and visualize it. To use this image to trade energy over to Xephos.

He didn't have much energy to begin with, but the situation was dire. He had to keep Xephos alive long enough for him to wake up and escape.

He took a deep breath and forced his chaotic mind to focus. Then the Ender part of his mind took over, and he felt a warm sensation in his arm and hand as he healed Xephos.

It took a second, but Xephos stopped bleeding as heavily, and he looked like he was breathing a bit easier.

After a few more seconds, Lalna pulled his hand back. A second later, any shred of warmth disappeared, and he felt the cold again. Not only that, but he felt incredibly weak and lethargic, having given most of his energy to Xephos.

“Xeph...” he choked out.

The spaceman was unresponsive for a moment.

And then Sjin screamed, snapping them both into alert mode.

They watched in horror as Sjin was frozen by the Ender Dragon. They watched him fall, rooted to where they sat, unable to move. They watched Sips catch him, and a moment later, they all felt him disappear from the world.

Sjin had left.

Lalna slowly looked back at Xephos.

“Your turn,” he said quietly.

Xephos looked pained by this. “Please be careful...” he choked out. Then he closed his eyes and disappeared, leaving them behind.

In the split second after Xephos disappeared, Lalna felt a stab of guilt so strong that he grimaced.

It was all his fault that his friends were here, being injured or nearly killed.

He had to end this.

XXX

Honeydew held the pendant close to his chest. The dragon was circling again, managing to dodge all the arrows Sips was shooting.

He knew he had to get the pendant to Lalna. Once he did, they would all be able to leave.

He was hiding behind one of the many pillars of obsidian. Every time the dragon turned it's back to circle around Sips, he would run behind the next pillar.

He was only a few pillars away from Lalna when Sips ran out of arrows.

The Ender Dragon seemed to know instantly. It suddenly swooped down and grabbed Sips in its claws. He screamed as the dragon carried him high in the air. Then she flew over the edge and dropped him.

Honeydew felt his heart stop, but a second before Sips fell into the Void, he disappeared, leaving the world to avoid dying.

And because Sips left, the dragon turned and flew straight at Honeydew.

And then a blast of purple magic shot out of nowhere and hit the Ender Dragon straight in the eye. It screeched in pain and pulled back, flying to the other side of the End.

Honeydew looked over and saw Lalna. His hands were glowing bright purple.

Then he dropped to his knees.

Honeydew quickly ran over to him and saw that his nose had started bleeding.

“What the hell was that?” he exclaimed.

Lalna just shook his head. “Remind me... never to... to do that... again...” he gasped out, having clearly used the last vestiges of his energy to create the magic.

Honeydew shook his head and looked over at the Ender Dragon. She was healing quickly.

He turned back to Lalna and held out the pendant. Lalna's eyes widened, and he raised his hand to take it, but he couldn't. He was too weak.

“Let me help you,” said Honeydew. Then he put the amulet around Lalna's neck.

The effect was instantaneous. His hair and skin returned to normal, and his eyes turned green again. He sat up, shocked at how quickly he felt normal again. It was as if the Enderbeast suddenly disappeared.

Suddenly, the ground was rocked by an explosion. Across the End, the dragon screeched. The Endermen all around them became panicked and teleported erratically.

And then the sky cracked open in a blinding white light.

The End began to crash.

“Leave...” said Lalna.

“I want to make sure you can leave too!” shouted Honeydew, sounding a lot less calm than Lalna did.

“Fine,” said Lalna. “We'll leave together.”

Honeydew nodded. Lalna started counting.

“One...”

The obsidian towers around them began to crumble.

“Two...”

The sky became completely white, and ice crystals started to form on their skin.

“Three...”

Honeydew and Lalna disappeared, leaving the world.

Not ten seconds later, the End crumbled and fell into the Void, taking everything with it.

XXX

Epilogue

Lalna gasped and sat bolt upright in his bed. He looked around and nearly cried in relief. He was back home, in his castle.

He took a deep breath. Then he looked down and saw the glowing purple amulet hanging around his neck.

With trembling hands, he held it up to inspect it closer. The crystal itself seemed to have shrunk perfectly to fit the confines of the pendant, but it still gave off the same amount of energy. He noticed there were runes carved into the sides of the silver pendant holding the crystal. From his dabbles in magic, he recognized them as runes of containment or capture.

All of a sudden, Xephos and Honeydew burst through the door, breaking his train of thought.

“LALNA!” they both exclaimed, running over and hugging him. He hugged them back and laughed, unable to say anything. He was relieved beyond belief that they were both okay and uninjured.

“I'm so glad you're okay...” he said quietly after finally regaining the ability to speak. He pulled back a bit. “Are Sips and Sjin okay? Did they make it back?”

Honeydew nodded. “We just came from Sipsco. They're fine, both of them.”

Lalna breathed a sigh of relief. “Everybody's alright?”

They nodded.

“Are you okay?” asked Xephos, glancing down at the amulet shining brightly around Lalna's neck. “Are you going to be okay?”

Lalna glanced down at the amulet. Slowly, he smiled. As long as he had it, the monster inside him couldn't break free.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I'm gonna be okay...”

Suddenly, there was a light knock on the door. Then the door opened and Rythian stepped into the room.

Lalna was shocked to see him, but Xephos and Honeydew seemed relieved.

“Glad to see you made it,” said Rythian quietly, looking a bit uncomfortable. He glanced down at the amulet around Lalna's neck.

“We would have been fucked without your help,” said Xephos.

Lalna glanced between them. He remembered hearing Rythian tell them he was a danger to himself and others, but he didn't remember him helping.

Rythian nodded, glancing around. “Do you think I could speak to Lalna privately?” he asked.

Honeydew and Xephos glanced at Lalna, who only shrugged a bit. Then they nodded and left the room.

Rythian carefully walked a bit closer to Lalna, not quite knowing how to act around him when he wasn't trying to kill him.

“You helped them?” asked Lalna cautiously.

Rythian nodded. “Well, I helped you,” he said, gesturing to the amulet. “I was the one who told them what the cure was.”

Lalna slowly nodded. “I was wondering how they figured that out... I'm guessing you also gave them the runes to capture the crystal?”

Rythian nodded.

“So... how much do you know, exactly...?”

“I know you're an Enderbeast,” he said, sounding casual. “I uh... I've encountered Enderbeasts before, so that's how I knew what would keep you alive.”

“So... the crystal didn't cure me?”

Rythian shook his head. “I'm afraid you'll never really be cured, but the crystal will keep you just as human as you were before.”

“What happens if I take it off?” asked Lalna, glancing at the crystal.

“If you took it off now, you'd probably die,” said Rythian. “But if you leave it on for about six more months, your body will eventually become immune to the poison, and it won't kill you if you take it off.”

Lalna narrowed his eyes a bit. “How... how do you know all this...?”

“I uh... I learned it the hard way.” Then he reached into the neck of his shirt and pulled out an amulet that looked exactly like Lalna's.

His eyes widened. “Are you-”

Rythian shook his head. “No, no... My friend was poisoned, just like you. I figured out how to cure him, but by the time I got this and got back to him, it was too late...”

Lalna was quiet for a minute.

“Why did you save me?” he finally asked.

Rythian shrugged. “Because I knew how. Because it didn't seem fair to just let you die. Because I actually have a heart...”

Lalna smiled a bit.

“And besides,” said Rythian, suddenly realizing he didn't sound scary, “if anything is going to kill you, I want it to be me.”

“How thoughtful,” said Lalna dryly.

Rythian rolled his eyes a bit. He turned, looking like he was about to leave, but he stopped.

“Here,” he said, turning back and holding out his hand, where glowing purple smoke began to coalesce. A second later, runes appeared in the smoke. Then he tossed the cloud to Lalna, who held out his hand and caught it with ease.

“What's this?” asked Lalna, staring as the runes began to reform themselves into letters.

“It's a spell that'll help you keep your amulet hidden,” he said, slowly edging towards the door.

Lalna read the spell a couple times, then it disappeared. He looked down and saw that his amulet had disappeared as well. However, he could still feel it hanging around his neck.

“That spell also has a bit of a protection aspect to it,” said Rythian. “If anyone tries to take it from you while you still have the spell activated, they'll be electrocuted.”

Lalna nodded and looked up at him. “Thanks... Uh... do you think you could... not tell anybody about my... condition?”

Rythian nodded. “Wasn't planning on it.”

“Thanks,” said Lalna, not really knowing what else to say.

Rythian nodded. “I guess I'll see you around. Try to avoid dying in the meantime.”

Lalna smiled a bit, but when he looked up, Rythian had gone.

A second later, Xephos and Honeydew came back inside.

“You guys told Sips and Sjin not to tell anybody about what happened, right?” asked Lalna.

They nodded.

“I don't think they were planning on telling anybody,” said Honeydew. “They both seemed pretty traumatized.”

Lalna sighed. “So what happens now? Do we just... go back to normal? Pretend it never happened?”

Xephos shrugged. “That's our plan... What are you going to do?”

Lalna glanced down at where the amulet was. He forgot it was there for a moment.

“I'm never going to wake it up again...” whispered Lalna.

“Glad you have that option,” said Xephos.

Lalna nodded. They were all quiet for a minute before he stood up.

“Well, I don't know what we're doing standing around,” he said. “We've been gone for months, and I don't want to wait for everybody else to realize we're back.”

He started to walk towards the door, then he stopped and turned around with a smirk. “And besides, I could use a drink.”

Xephos and Honeydew smiled, and they walked out after Lalna, prepared to walk away from the memory of the Ender curse forever.

XXXXX