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It wasn’t meant to happen like this. His trip wasn’t meant to take a dark turn. The adventure shouldn’t be ending so soon. And yet, feet teetering on the edge of crumbling nether rack, he realised that this is exactly what was happening right now.
He was going to die.
Maybe he should’ve listened, maybe he should’ve worn some gold. If he had listened then he wouldn’t be face to face with a horde of angry piglins, several sets of beady eyes staring straight into his sole. Tusks sharp, weapons lifted and hooves ready to move. Jack realised that this was a losing battle.
He was outnumbered, overpowered and didn’t even have one piece of armour on to protect him.
Yet, his hands still gripped his sword handle, knuckles turning white. He still took in a deep breath as the pack drew closer, their angry huffs becoming more and more coherent with each step. He still readied himself to attack despite the fact he knew it was the end. It was as if a fire burned within him, keeping his determination ignited.
However, that flame was put out, stomped on, completely smothered as the sea of piglins crashed into him.
Beneath him the ground shook. One single push and he had lost his footing. The cacophony of snorts and grunts subsided and the crackle of lava replaced it. He was tumbling closer and closer towards it. His boy was plummeting down, down, down. Further and further, he fell. The heat soon becoming uncomfortable, suffocating.
Then the world exploded.
Adrenaline ran through his veins, coursing through his blood. Underneath his skin, a thrumming could be heard, the buzz harmonising with the popping of the lava.
Smashing into the molten liquid below him, as if he was shattering through a wall of hot coals, he screamed. But no noise could be heard, just the sound of choked sobs as lava forcefully pushed its way into a poor man’s body. The sound of a throat burning and organs sizzling. Flesh being ripped away from his bones because of the sudden impact and then the bones themselves being crushed into a fine powder.
Heat encased him, pulling and tugging and tearing and stretching every part of his whole being. Skin stripped, muscles melting away into the burning ocean, bones left as a pile of ash.
Scarlet clouded his vision, his whole world morphing into an angry red. His whole world disappearing as the red grew louder and louder, a crimson filling his mind, pushing away memories, removing images of family and friends. Nothing but a gentle hum could be heard. And then, as the humming died, so did he. Reds and oranges that made his head pound and eyes ache finally died too.
All that was left was the frigid eternal darkness.
All that was left was the horrible smell of burning flesh and the bitter taste of molten lava.
--
Jack Manifold woke up, head completely empty, no recollection of anything he had ever done in his entire life. He didn’t know what had happened, he didn’t know where he was. Hell, he wasn’t even sure he knew who he was.
The only thing he knew for certain was that he woke up on a warm floor, throat sore and eyes dry.
Shakily, he stood up, too scared for any sudden movement. No, he was too scared to move at all. A painfully bland wall of deep red-purple bricks stood in front of him. It was a familiar sight. Slowly he took a step. Then another. Soon he was walking through the maze of walls.
Eventually he came to an opening, one that split into four separate paths. He wasn’t going to walk back the way he had just come from, so it was either go left, right, or straight forward.
To the left there were skeletons that stood at almost eight feet tall, bones black, as if a thick layer of smoke had stuck to the figure. Sharp blade in their grip, he didn’t fancy his changes. Empty eye sockets, just a charcoal hole instead of actual pupils. Rotten teeth, barely hanging onto the rest of the skull. Faint ash and dust fluttering off the bones.
Yeah, Jack really didn’t fancy his chances against those monsters.
Straight forward looked to be more of the same boring brick pattern. Right at the end he could make out that it turned right, maybe signalling to something more exciting. However, right before the corner stood a pig creature of some sort. Pink flesh falling off half its face, revealing a mouldy and cracked skull. One socket left completely empty, the other holding a small prying eye, the pupil a mix of yellow and amber. This creature also held a weapon, a shining golden sword, hooves clutching onto the handle. Jack felt slightly less threatened by that creature, but he decided to scope out all his options first before making a choice.
To the right there was a bridge, it took him right over the lava towards a small platform. Barely, he could see a small cube in the centre of the platform. It almost looked like a cage, a flickering light in the middle of its iron bars. Somehow, Jack felt the light reach out to him, grabbing on his arms and dragging him towards it.
A warmness spread in his chest. Not a violent heat that caused him to choke on his breath. Not a painful heat that scorched every fibre of his being. No, a gentle heat that made him feel like he belonged.
Looks like he was taking the path to the right then.
Approaching the cubed object, he heard a crack. Then the light inside it, almost like a flame, grew. Each step he took caused it to burn brighter, buzzing energetically as he moved closer and closer to it.
Once he reached the bottom of the steps that lead him to the unknown object, it burst into life. A chorus of melodic rumbling that grew louder until eventually the light erupted, blinding him for a brief moment.
Once his vision had returned, in front of him wasn’t just the cube, but now another creature.
Floating above the floor, it was a set of whirling rods. Each one was a vibrant yellow that faded into a bright orange and then a warm chestnut brown near the bottom of the cylindrical sticks. In the centre of the flying rods was a cube with the same colour scheme, two thin eyes as its only facial feature. Solid black pupils bore into his sole and smoke simmered around it, moving in unison with the rest of its body.
It didn’t seem hostile, just continuously staring at him, not once moving its iron glare. Jack didn’t know why but he felt connected, he felt one with this creature.
So, he reached out towards the flying beast, fingertips brushing against the cloud of smoke and heated rods. And then his hand landed on the cube, palm resting right above its eyes.
Right at that exact moment, there was a spark. Electricity spraying off the creature and immediately latching onto Jack’s body. Instantly, he brought his hand back but it was too late. The spark bounced around his body, pinching each muscle and stinging his skin. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, the small bolt of electricity being the only movement.
Then everything went up in a ball of flames. Fire wrapping his body, a sensation of burning alive coating his whole being. A sensation that was familiar, too familiar. This all seemed like it had happened before, the burning stench that filled his nostrils along with the lumps of mangled flesh that slid off far too easily.
Deep within him, the warm heat he had previously felt had grown, now it was a stabbing pain in his chest. A knife twisting through his heart as he let the flames consume him.
However, he didn’t die, he didn’t meet the darkness.
Instead, he just stood completely still.
The set of narrow eyes were still staring at him. Slowly, they twitched. Looking to the left, then looking to the right. Then once again returning to look at Jack. A wave of nervousness washed over him, tension in the air as thick as the suffocating smoke that had formed a wall around them.
Very slowly, the eyes started to close. Watching tentatively, Jack saw the pupil disappear behind golden eyelids before eventually the eyes were completely closed.
That was when the memories crashed into him, a warm wave of things he shouldn’t be able to remember. His mind being filled of images of a previous life. Dying in lava, not being able to swim to the surface. Realising that he should be dead. He shouldn’t be stood still right now on top of a path of bricks. He shouldn’t be here.
Around him, the burning fire and the barrier of smoke danced with one another. Two partners that worked well together, the cackling sounds providing a beat for them to move too.
Jack should be dead. He had fallen into lava.
Yet he wasn’t dead, he was in the middle of a fortress of fire that burnt his skin and caused his insides to bubble and boil.
Was it uncomfortable? Yes, definitely. Was it painful? Well, that was a different story.
Now he just felt numb, watching the yellows, reds and oranges race around him, taking him apart like a Lego set. Then it would rebuild him but this time they weren’t using the same pieces. They were using a completely different Lego set, like a child using whatever they wanted to create a mismatch invention. Making something completely new, never seen before.
In front of him the caged expanded, the metal bending further and further almost like a gas canister building up in pressure. The bars were stretched more and more until it looked like thread weakly holding a ball of pure light together.
Without warning, the light exploded and once again he was blinded. Gently the white light subsided, and Jack realised he was now alone on the platform.
Sighing, he lifted a hand to rub his eyes. But what was lifted was not a hand but a melting mass of flowing lava and small floating rods that reminded him of fingers. His arm was a mess of the swirling lava, burnt flaking flesh and glowing red embers.
What it looked like was a horrendous mixture of a human and the creature Jack had just seen.
He needed to see himself in a mirror or something. He needed to see himself.
The only thing he could think of was the shiny surface of a gold block, his muddled reflection would be able to be seen from the block’s surface. So, he walk- no, he floated through the rest of the paths, searching for what he needed. Eventually he came across one of the pig creatures and it didn’t seem agitated at all so Jack looked into the golden chest plate.
Instead of seeing his normal face, donning his colourful glasses and headset, he was greeted with more molten lava, the yellows and oranges and chestnut browns mixing in with one another. One eye was a shining blue, the other a deep ruby. Reaching his arms in front of him, he saw the rods that swooped next to him, not attached to the rest of his body but still somehow feeling connected.
What he saw wasn’t human. It wasn’t him.
“Blaze.”
A voice echoed in his mind, coherent and loud. It repeated the word again and again until it unlocked a memory. A memory of the nether. A fortress, slimes that bounced around, piglins that craved gold, wither skeletons and soul sand and lava and blue fire and nether wart and... and...
Blazes.
What he saw in the reflection wasn’t a blaze, but it wasn’t human either. It was a mutation of both, bubbling flesh that was numb to the flames, slow and sluggish lava that flowed but didn’t go anywhere. Rods he could control without even touching them. What he saw was a mixture of both creatures. A hybrid of the two, creating a new, terrifying discovery.
What he saw in the reflection was him.
He was the hybrid. He was the monster.
Jack screamed. Screamed at the nether, at himself, at whatever God was watching, laughing at this sick game. He yelled at this damn world that had refused to let him die in the lava like he should have, instead it cursed him to be a monster.
--
One thing that happens in the nether is that you couldn’t keep track of time.
He couldn’t sleep or rest, instead just forced to wander through the barren landscapes and dangerous biomes. Mobs were still hostile towards him. Lava didn’t hurt him. Blazes didn’t take any notice of him. He was stuck in a cycle. No tools or obsidian. No way to leave this hellscape. No way of knowing if anyone else was out there.
Until one day, there was someone else. A human who was busy mining quartz. Jack saw the opportunity and took it. This was the only way he could get out of here.
However, it turns out not everyone feels safe around a weird, mismatched blaze-human hybrid.
He had only cautiously approached the man, but he hadn’t even gotten to the question yet. A sword had already been trusted towards him. It took him by surprise, causing panic to well up inside of him.
“Stay back!” The human warned, voice shaky yet malevolent.
Jack took in a shuddered breath, he just wanted to go home (despite the fact that his mind was adamant that this was home) and be free of this place. So, he didn’t back down, the nervousness still clawing at his insides. Huffing, the man stepped forward, prodding the blade towards Jack again.
“This is your last warning.”
He wanted to explain that he wasn’t a monster. He wasn’t dangerous. He was just a- well, he wasn’t sure exactly what he was but he knew he wasn’t a threat. Alas, the human didn’t listen, instead lifting the sword up, readying for an attack.
Inside of him, the panic bubbled over and suddenly a thin line of fire balls left the centre of his hands (well, they weren’t technically hands and rather a mush of lava and flying rods) and headed straight towards the man. Jumping backwards, he yelped as one of the flames licked the side of his cheek, burning the skin instantly. Stumbling back some more, shouting at the sudden attack, he didn’t even realise he was stepping towards the edge of a cliff.
Jack leant forward, warning the human about the danger he was in. However, he was met with fear filled eyes as he desperately tried to distance himself from Jack, taking one more step back-
The deafening screech that rang out as the human disappeared off the ledge will be something that will haunt Jack forever.
Below, the lava took another victim, eating away at him until there was nothing left. A man who had gone the exact same way Jack had but instead of the enemy being piglins, this time it was Jack who had caused this death. He had fired those little balls of destruction. He had scared the man. He had just killed someone.
If his tear ducts hadn’t been seared off that day he had touched the blaze, he thinks he would have cried until his eyes were completely dry.
Jack didn’t want to hurt others. He didn’t want to be a monster.
But as the last sight of human flesh disintegrated into the lava, he realised that he didn’t have a say in any of this. He was a danger to others. And he hated it.
--
One day (could he even call it day? Was there even days and nights here? Jack didn’t know and decided he didn’t care for an answer) he came across a portal. It was broken, missing pieces of obsidian, but it meant there was a way to go back.
Vaguely, he remembers what the other side was like. The only memories he had been able to retain were his death and some fragments of the overworld. However, he couldn’t remember people. He couldn’t remember his friends, family or home. He just remembered endless grassy plains, a forest of trees and no hybrid monsters in sight.
Was he even in the same world anymore? He had never seen someone as messed up as him before, he had never seen some weird Frankenstein monster before. He had only seen humans and then animals, there had never been a mix of the two.
So, would the overworld even be the same? Would it be like his faint memories or would it be more like the hell he was currently living in? Jack wasn’t sure if he wanted an answer or not.
However, he waited near the broken portal. He patiently waited in case anyone would come through, if anyone would be able to save him from the nether.
Jack had almost given up, almost decided to travel some more but one day there was a burst of purple. A swirl of deep violet particles as the purple glow covered the portal, obsidian appearing to fill the empty spaces. Eventually it died down, all that was left being the frame of the portal and the thin line of purple light in the middle.
Then, out from the wall of light, a hand poked through. Then the rest of a body, legs, head and finally wings.
This wasn’t a normal human like the one he had seen previously (he tried not to think about how it was the human he had killed) but instead was a weird creature just like him.
Fluffy small white wings protruded from the boys back. He looked younger than Jack, blond locks and eyes that were like sapphires. On each side of his head there were small puffs of the same white feathers. His arms were also lined with them, despite the fact that they looked impractical when it came to flying. Miniscule cuts and faded scars littered his pale skin, his legs resembled that of a chicken’s, instead of shoes and socks there were yellow talons.
Awkwardly, they both stared at each other, taking in the sight of someone else who wasn’t quite human.
“What the fuck are you looking at, prick?” The boy spat.
Jack, taken aback but the sudden defensive stance of the winged boy, splutter a response, “I want to go home.”
Well, he hadn’t meant to say that but it’s not as if he could change that. His truth was now out in the open despite the fact that he totally didn’t answer the question that was previously asked.
Narrowing his eyes, the blond continued, “Home? You’re part blaze, is this not your home?”
“No.” Jack wasn’t sure if he believed himself as he said that, “out there is my home.”
“Okay, if you say so,” the boy softened his appearance, relaxing his shoulders, “I’m Tommy, what’s your name, big man?”
“The name’s Jack Manifold.”
Tommy was a handful, to say the least. Jack offered to help him gather some nether materials. Part of him wanted to make a good first impression and part of him didn’t want to go through the portal alone. So, he helped Tommy get what he needed since he basically knew this terrain like the back of his hand. It gave them time to get to know each other.
Tommy was an avian hybrid. His full name was Tommyinnit. He was very clear when he described himself, he wanted it known that he was not a chicken. (Jack thought Tommy totally was a chicken hybrid but decided to keep that thought to himself.) He couldn’t fly but he could glide, which was pretty fun to watch. Tommy made some odd noises. Chips, peeps and trills that would sometimes worm their way out of his mouth and into the conversation. Jack didn’t mind though, he liked seeing the avian personality shine through the energetic blond. Tommy couldn’t eat meat but he could run really fast so he claims he doesn’t seem to mind his dietary requirements.
On the other side of the portal, apparently there was a community that had formed. More hybrids that had come together. A pub was currently being built that would be able to hold all types of hybrids. Tommy even mentioned there was a lava area for nether hybrids. Jack tried not to feel attached. He was a monster, he has killed. Once they got through the portal, he would part ways. He didn’t want to hurt Tommy too.
Jack told his story as well. Told Tommy what had happened. Well, maybe he forgot to mention the whole dying and coming back to life thing and purposefully left out the murder thing, but that was alright. He didn’t need to tell the blond everything.
Finally, the materials had been gathered. He was going to miss Tommy but he knew as they stood in front of the purple glow, this was it for their friendship.
Stepping into the portal, he let it swirl around him, the reds morphing into complete darkness before blending out into greens and blues.
Once that had stopped, he stumbled out into the overworld. From Tommy’s stories and his faint memories, it was exactly what he had expected.
Except for the sudden burning sensation that erupted all over his body.
Quickly, he realised that it was raining. He cried out, Tommy immediately pushing Jack underneath a nearby tree. Collapsing to the ground (it wasn’t quite collapsing considering he floated, but it was close enough), he let out shaky breaths. Lingering on his skin was the sting of rain drops, the water leaving his body mottled with bubbling scars. It was ironic really, water burnt him. Water hurt him.
“-ack? Ja-”
Muffled sounds, maybe a voice, didn’t quite reach his ears. God, he was a freak, wasn’t he? If water was harmful to him, there was no way he could survive here. There was no one he would be able to live out here alone. Throat tightening, the embers embedded deep within him crackling, he hated that where the rain had hit him still stung. He would have to go back, right? He would be sent back to the nether, back to the hell he had lived in for who knows how long. Back to the place where he belonged because he was a weird creature, a mutant, not normal, not human-
“Jack!”
Briefly, hands held onto the rods that resembled fingers. A faint sizzle that Jack was all too familiar with pulled him out of his thoughts. Looking up, he realised Tommy had grabbed onto him, just to get his attention.
“Tommy- oh god Tommy, your hands. I’m so sorry- oh god,” he stuttered.
“Don’t worry about me big man,” his eyes were clouded with concern, something Jack had not seen the boy show, “what about you? Your breathing went all weird and shit and I wanted to make sure the rain wasn’t hurting you anymore. But you were huffing and puffing so I grabbed you.”
Despite the guilt that sat at the back of his mind, Jack laughed at the flustered blond, “didn’t think I’d see the day Tommyinnit showed that he cared about someone else.”
“Alright dickhead,” Tommy stood up dramatically, “I won’t ask if you’re okay then!”
“I’m alright, thank you Tommy,” he smiled. The avian grinned back.
As they watched the rain, neither of them uttered another word. Tommy didn’t address the slight burns on his fingertips. Jack didn’t speak about the rain. Instead, they waited for it to pass, happy with the comfortable silence that had settled.
Soon the sky cleared up. This was when Jack decided to announce his plan, “I am going to be leaving you now.”
“No,” Tommy interjected immediately, “you’re going to end up getting yourself killed.”
“If I stay, I’ll end up hurting you,” Jack tried to correct but the blond was having none of it.
“No can-do big man. You know what? Ranboo, one of the other hybrids, is hurt by water too,” he explained, “he’s an enderman hybrid. The others have weaknesses too. Wilbur can’t stay out in the sun for too long. Niki can’t leave the water. Phil struggles when it comes to small spaces. I can only sleep at high altitudes. Tubbo gets tired really quickly.”
“What are you getting at?” Jack furrowed his eyebrows.
“I’m saying that we all have problems and all that shit. You’re not alone in this.”
“But I’m from the nether, I can hurt people.”
“Look, Jack, I think that ego of yours is way too big. Have you met my friends? There’s no way a blaze hybrid could hurt them, they’re all far too strong for that.”
Mouth slightly ajar, he wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Instead, he joined in when Tommy laughed.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
He tired not to think about the permanent reminder now left on his body that water hurt him, meaning he was weak. He tired not to think about the fact he could set this whole world ablaze if he weren’t careful.
--
Tommy helped him travel. If it rained, they would stop. If there was a lake or pond, a bridge of blocks was put down.
It all was going so well.
Then they stopped to sleep at a village. And it all went downhill from there.
Due to his avian blood, Tommy built his way up. A small platform way above the clouds was built so he could sleep. Jack just took one of the houses in the village, sleeping there for the night instead. It was the first time in a while where he was actually able to sleep. It was constant in the nether, no separate day or night, so there was never a proper time to rest. However, he forgot that sleeping meant dreaming. Dreaming meant a possibility of a nightmare.
That was exactly what happened.
A familiar grasp of lava, engulfing him whole. Suffocating on thick smoke. A human boy dying in a sea of molten liquid. Crying, broken and his body melting away.
Shooting up in bed, he gasped. Realising it had just been a bad dream, he relaxed slightly only to suddenly start to panic again. The house he was sat in was on fire. His bed was on fire. It all was on fire. Had he done this? Well, of course he had, he just couldn’t remember doing it. Had it been a reflex from the bad dream? Jack hated how that that was probably correct.
Hyperventilating, he stood up and rushed out the door, only to realise that the flames had spread.
Around him an innocent village burnt. Tommy slept way above them, untouched by the flickering heat. But down on the ground, villagers lost their homes, lost their friends, and lost their families.
When Tommy glided down from his perch, he saw a pile of ash. In the middle of the ash stood a blaze hybrid, dry sobs pushing past his lips as he looked at the damage he had bestowed on these poor people.
Jack wanted to go back. The nether seemed more and more like a suitable home to him. He didn’t care if it was exhausting and boring and ever so hot, he wanted to go back. At least then he wouldn’t be a hazard. But the overworld was his home. But the nether was his home.
Wait, where was his home again?
Tommy refused. He refused to give up and Jack wanted to shout at the blond for being so stupid. However, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. This was a friend who had helped him, who still wanted to help him.
Jack wanted to go back.
Tommy forced him not to.
So, he was dragged along, paranoid and refusing to sleep again. He was dragged back to a community.
To a place with several other hybrids that didn’t seem to care that he was a blaze (they just hadn’t seen the damage Jack could do.) People who weren’t scared of him (they just didn’t know that he had killed people.) A place that welcomed him with open arms (they just didn’t know the real Jack yet.)
He was worried that that would all change soon.
--
He tried to settle in.
Jack still wanted to leave. At the same time though, he didn’t. Wait no, he did want to go back to the nether. No, he didn’t. He had made so many new friends. But a part of him stated that he needed to leave.
Confusion clouded his mind. Jack now didn’t know what he wanted.
He built a house with help from Tubbo. It was completely made up of stone, so no matter what, it couldn’t burst into flames. A little water stream flowed to his house; it was segregated with glass so Jack couldn’t touch it, but it meant Niki could come visit him. Whenever it rained him and Ranboo would hastily run for cover, laughing about how franticly they would always move. Phil made sure there were small lava pools that were in the community pub so Jack could feel more relaxed there. (His words were “make you feel more at home” but Jack still wasn’t sure where his real home was just yet) Wilbur offered him a job in the kitchen if he ever got bored, which Jack took graciously. Tommy still carried round blocks to build bridges over any bodies of water just in case Jack needed a hand.
It made him feel apart of this mismatch group of people. He tried to ignore the warning in the back of his head that this would soon end. He wasn’t sure if he believed it or not.
One day he was messing about with Tommy and Tubbo. All of them had noticed the lava pool nearby but made a conscious effort to avoid it. However, it wasn’t until they were playing a game of tag when the problem began.
Tommy could glide away from whoever was it, making an easy escape. He just so happened to not pay attention to where he was landing whilst trying to evade Tubbo. He didn’t hear Jack’s warning and didn’t notice how close the lava pool had gotten. Well, he hadn’t noticed how close it was until his talons hit the scorching pool.
Screaming, he flapped his wings, but his face of terror already knew it was a futile attempt. He wasn’t like Phil; he couldn’t properly fly. So instead, his body sunk into the lava, feather bursting into flames.
Jack didn’t know what he was doing until he was running into the pool, grabbing a crying Tommy, then sprinting towards the lake. Voices could be heard yelling to him but he was just a mass of yellow, crimson and amber, flying towards the water. Both hybrids were burning brightly, but one of them shouldn’t be doing that.
He didn’t want to lose Tommy, his first ever friend. He didn’t want to be responsible for another death knowing he could’ve intervened. So, without a second though, he plunged into the water, ignoring the pain that exploded throughout him. Around him, the fire was extinguished and the water clogged every crook and crevasse in his body, an icy layer settling over him.
Jack had blacked out by the time hands grabbed onto him and dragged him out of the water. He stayed unconscious as a group of worried people helped ignite his fire again. He slept as Tommy was treated, never seeing the blonds broken face as he looked at the blaze hybrid.
Two days later, he awoke, back in his stone house, fire blazing.
“He’s awake!”
Jack didn’t even realise someone was stood at his door and before he knew it, the rest had rushed towards him. Cramped in his small house, he heard a sea of concerned voices.
Jack found himself smiling.
They filled him in on what had happened. Phil scolded him for jumping into the water, when he could’ve just dropped Tommy into the lake (to be fair, Jack was not thinking clearly when he made that decision.) Wilbur complimented him for his bravery. Niki and Ranboo were just glad he was okay. Tubbo suggested the next time they play tag; it should be far away from any lava or water.
Tommy thanked him, voice unusually quiet and sincere. He mentioned that he was happy to see Jack awake again.
“Didn’t think I’d see the day Tommyinnit showed that he cared about someone else.” Jack smirked.
“Alright dickhead, you’ve used that line on me before.” Tommy spat back, no harmful intent behind his words.
The room erupted into laughter. Laughter that showed that no one here was scared of Jack, they didn’t care about his past. They didn’t care about what he had done because right now, Jack knew he wasn’t a danger to these people. All of them had each other’s backs. He thoroughly enjoyed this little community he had become a part of.
Watching his friends stand around him, he finally understood that this was where he belonged. Not the nether. Not all alone. Instead, surrounded by his family.
Jack knew that this was his home.