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Nothing… These books have NOTHING.
It was midnight in the Steven and Alex household and Steven was up late looking through countless books. But why was he up so late? Well, just a few days ago, Sam had revealed to him where his father was and what happened to him and it goes like this. Steve was an explorer, he discovered many different biomes, creatures, treasures, you name it. But the one thing he never discovered was if the world had an end. So with the new thought in mind, he set off on a grand adventure to discover if the world had an end to it. If his calculations were correct, he would circle around the world and make it back to the village safely.
“How long do you think you'll be gone, dad?” Steven asked.
“As long as it takes me. The world is a big place son.”
“So like… A month?”
“Hmm, a month might be too little. I was thinking about a year, two at most… Maybe.”
“Oh… I see.”
Steven looked at the ground sadly before his dad pulled him in for a hug.
“Don't worry Steven. Your old man has been around this world a long time. Whatever is waiting at the end, it's no match for me.”
Steven smiled as he pulled away from the hug.
“Yeah, you're right. I mean, you did beat up a dragon.”
“And I'd do it again too!”
The two laughed for a bit before Steve began his journey to The Far Lands. Steven waved his father goodbye, not realizing it was the last time he'd ever see him.
Dammit dad… Steven angrily thought as he threw the book across the room.
I assumed you were dead but now I come to find out you're still alive and being possessed by something you couldn't fight off!?
“Hey, is everything okay?” Alex asked as she knocked on his door.
“It sounded like something fell.”
Steven sighed before getting up from his bed and making his way to the door.
No use getting upset about it Steven…
Steven opened the door to Alex standing there, she had a blanket wrapped around her.
“Hey Alex, sorry, I just got a little angry about something that happened.”
“Do you want to talk about it? I'll be honest, I've been worried about you since you came home a few days ago.”
Steven had come home with a mountain of books a few nights ago and hadn't left his room since then. This of course worried Alex but she didn't want to press him about it.
“You don't need to worry about me Alex.” Steven said as he put a hand on Alex's shoulder.
“I just… I just need some time to think about stuff okay? Please understand.”
Alex smiled.
“Okay Steven, I trust you.”
The two smiled at each other before Alex noticed how pink Steven's eyes were.
“Steven, when's the last time you slept?”
“Huh? Oh. I think like… 3 days ago. Why?”
Suddenly, a loud screech could be heard overhead. The two looked towards the balcony in Steven's room as three phantoms flew in towards them.
“That's why!” Alex yelled as she pulled out her sword and slashed away at the phantom.
“How could you forget about the nightmarish creatures that spawn when you don't rest!?”
“Dude I have a lot on my mind okay!?” Steven said as he also pulled out his sword.
“Just shut it and help me fight ‘em off!”
Steven and Alex rushed for the phantoms, Alex taking on two of them while Steven fought the other one. Between Alex and Steven, Alex was the better fighter, oftentimes being the lead when they went on cave expeditions. Nothing could get past her, which is why she was easily able to dispose of the two phantoms.
“Ah sweet! I got a phantom membrane!” Alex said happily as she looked over at Steven still fighting his phantom.
She smirked.
“Having trouble there buddy?”
“Working on it!” Steven yelled as he swung at the phantom who narrowly dodged his attack.
Something was off about the phantom but Steven couldn't put his finger on. Finally after another minute or so, he managed to jam his sword into its wing and knock it down.
“Got it! Now for the finishing blow…”
As Steven readied his sword to jam it into the phantom's head, the phantom looked up at him and that's when Steven noticed it.
Their eyes… There's no way…
Their eyes had pupils, golden pupils, just like Sam and the others had.
“Steven? What are you doing?” Alex asked when she noticed Steven had stopped moving.
Without thinking, Steven quickly turned around and gently pushed Alex towards the door.
“What the- Steven-”
“It's fine! It's fine! I'm going to kill it but I need to uh… Study it.”
“There's nothing to study it about that we don't already know!”
Not in this case… Steven thought.
“It's just this phantom seemed off for some reason, I just want to make sure I'm not crazy.”
“You're acting really weird but whatever then. Just be careful.” Alex said as she walked back to her room.
Steven gently shut the door and listened to make sure Alex was in her room. When he heard her door close, he turned around and slowly approached the injured phantom. The phantom hissed at him, causing him to flinch.
“I-It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you anymore. I know you can talk like the others.”
The phantom flinched when it heard this.
“....O-Others?” The phantom said weakly.
“Yes. There's other monsters like you that are intelligent. Now please hold still, I need to pour this on your wing.” Steven said as he poured a potion of harming onto the phantom's wing.
The wing slightly glowed as the potion healed it back to full health. The phantom slowly stood up on its legs and flapped its wings curiously. Upon realizing it was healthy again, it flew around the room happily before landing in front of Steven.
“T-Thank you human.” The phantom said.
“It was no trouble. Sorry again about almost killing you. I'm still new to the whole intelligent mob thing. Why'd you attack me though?”
“I didn't want to but when I smelled that insomnia, I couldn't help myself… I haven't eaten anything in days…”
Steven frowned before thinking of something.
“Hold on a moment.”
Steven went over to the chest next to his bed and opened it. Inside were a few treasures, some weapons, and a steak. He pulled out the steak and brought it over to the phantom.
“Here, try this, it's cooked beef.”
The phantom slowly grabbed the steak and took a bite. It almost fainted from how good it tasted.
“Oh wow! This is delicious!”
Steven smiled.
“I have more in the kitchen if you want… Er… I'm sorry, I forgot to ask your name.”
“Mm, it's fine.” The phantom said before swallowing the last of the steak.
“My name's Phanta.”
“Phanta? Sounds like a drink of some kind. I'm Steven, it's nice to meet you.”
The two shook hands before Steven guided Phanta to the kitchen, being weary not to wake up Alex. Once they got there, Steven gave Phanta some more steak and the two talked for what felt like hours.
“You're female!?” Steven said while almost shouting.
“Yep. Mobs can be any gender apparently. I just happened to be female when I was spawned.”
“And I noticed you were able to stand up and grab stuff.”
“I was given these specifically to adapt better to the ground.”
“And like… What do you want to do honestly? Like a life purpose I mean.”
Phanta sat there for a second, deep in thought.
“I… I don't really have a purpose.”
From the moment Steven heard that, he knew what he had to do.
“Phanta, there's some friends I want you to meet tomorrow.”