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Oli had never been one to settle down, always travelling, looking for the next big treasure. That is, until he found a quaint little settlement, inhabited by an odd bunch. Oli wasn't much for making friends, but one particular demon managed to pique his interest, and the two created a business together. This newfound friendship partnership contributed to Oli eventually properly settling down, with no intention of returning to the life of an explorer. He had enough wealth, and the surrounding land was more than capable of being exploited for his needs.
The mansion had been an important step for Oli. It was proof to himself that he was going to stay, that he had his own place. He might've been a little too ambitious when designing it, as most of the rooms were still unfurnished even weeks after moving in, but it was the outside appearance that mattered. That was what other people saw. And oh was it beautiful. The robust spruce logs laying on the intricate bed of stone bricks, the walls reaching high above the ground, and right above the main entrance, an open balcony, and a large clock. And then, of course, the main focus of the building. The blinding copper roof, glowing a bright red in the sunlight. Oli had mined for days, weeks even, to gather the copper, and his furnaces had been working tirelessly. But it had paid off. He had the most beautiful roof that extruded an aura of wealth.
In addition to the mansion, Oli had decided to build a laboratory, in which he intended to research matters that the others may deem "unconventional", whatever that meant (he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to research, but the tax write-off was nice).
In conclusion, Oli had no plans to leave his home anytime soon.
That was until Oli received an invitation from Aimsey, as had the rest of the server, inviting them to a spontaneous dinner party. Despite some tension, the party had been quite enjoyable, until Aimsey revealed their true motive behind the party. They had been researching something called 'The End'. A portal leading to another dimension, rumoured to be able to alter a person, and now they wanted to travel to that practically unknown dimension, alone, with no certain way back.
Oli's initial reaction had been shock, and anger. Anger not quite directed at Aimsey, but rather anger over the fact that they had planned to do it on their own. But quickly the anger turned into worry, and Oli firmly stated he was going with Aimsey.
"But what if you get hurt!" Aimsey had insisted.
"What if you get hurt" Oli had yelled.
...
It was quickly decided that everyone would travel to this End dimension together, and face any potential danger together. No one would do it alone.
The next day arrived, and the group gathered around a strange formation of 12 unfamiliar blocks, each with an indent containing eyes that Oli had concluded once belonged to Endermen.
They counted down from ten. Oli felt his heart beating faster with each number. He gripped his axe tighter, choosing to ignore the way his hands were shaking. A bead of sweat dripped down his temple. He guessed the others were in a similar state. They were leaving their homes, possibly forever. They had no idea what was on the other side, Oli could only guess they'd see Endermen, considering they were the key to opening the portal, as well as sharing part of their name with this new dimension.
3...2...1...
Oli took a deep breath. He jumped.
...
Oli was thrilled to have been right about the Endermen, but that excitement had quickly disappeared when the boss-bar appeared. Oli's eyes adjusted to the dim light in this End dimension, and in the middle of a circle of obsidian pillars, flying in the air, was a large black dragon. A real living, breathing, dragon.
He froze. Just staring at the beast in front of him. She hadn't noticed them yet, but she would at any moment. Oli had never fought a dragon before, he hadn't even thought they were real. Sure, he'd fought withers before, several withers, and won with ease, but this was something entirely different.
A scream broke him from his trance. Aimsey's scream.
Oli spun around and saw Aimsey running away, a group of Endermen following them. Aimsey placed down water. That's when Oli truly realized the danger they were in. He jumped into action, swinging at the tall creatures, forcing them to fall to his blade one by one.
"Are you alright?" he asked through shaky breaths, quickly determining he at least couldn't see any injuries on Aimsey.
Aimsey nodded.
Then they heard a roar. The dragon had noticed them.
Purple smoke exploded from the dragon's mouth as she swooped down towards them. The smoke settled on the ground, at Michela's feet. She yelped, as the smoke burned her skin. She was quickly pulled away from the smoke.
Thinking fast, Oli pulled out a few glass bottles and attempted to collect the smoke. It was quite dense and to Oli's surprise, at the bottom of the bottle, was a layer of the smoke. He sealed the bottles and placed them back into his inventory. He'd study the mysterious smoke later.
Now that they had confirmation that the dragon was hostile, the decision to kill it was an easy one. The act itself, however, proved to be more difficult. The dragon regenerated its health using crystals on top of each of the obsidian pillars, so they had to be destroyed before the group could do any real damage to the dragon.
By some miracle, they did manage to slay the dragon. It exploded into a rain of XP, and as soon as the first XP orb hit the ground, the bedrock structure in the centre of the island spawned a portal.
Oli felt relief. One of his biggest worries (besides anyone dying, of course) had been the very real possibility of being permanently stuck in The End. He turned to Aimsey, a smile on his face, but Aimsey's attention was on something else. They were staring at the new portal, fists clenching and opening nervously.
"What is this?" someone exclaimed behind them, pulling both of their attentions away.
It looked like an egg, just lying on the ground. That hadn't been there before. Oli carefully tapped the egg, but recoiled with a yelp as it disappeared, reappearing a few meters away. Oli walked up to it and tapped it again, and once again it teleported away.
The group began discussing how to obtain the egg when Oli remembered the torches he'd brought. He mined underneath the egg and placed the torch. He then let the egg fall on top of the torch, and to his delight, it turned into its smaller variant, allowing him to pick it up. He handed it off, not being too keen on taking care of a dragon egg.
A few minutes later the group was once again gathered around a portal, with the hope of this one bringing them home. They once again counted down together, and with excitement filling them, they all jumped.
It was black, Everything was black. Oli couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't feel. There was just...nothing.
"I see the player you mean"
Oli heard a voice, close, very close. It felt like it was inside of his head.
"Oli?"
Another voice answered the first.
"Yes"
The two voices conversed with one another as if Oli wasn't even there, but they made it very clear they knew he could hear them. He listened to their story, listened to the truth of the universe through the safely contained words of the beings. He felt enlightened, yet more lost than ever at the same time. He'd gotten so many answers to questions he didn't even know he had, but still, he seemed to have three times as many questions as before.
"And the universe said I love you because you are love."
"And the game was over and the player woke up from the dream. And the player began a new dream. And the player dreamed again, dreamed better. And the player was the universe. And the player was love."
"You are the player."
"Wake up."
The last words echoed as whispers in Oli's ears as he was suddenly thrust through space. He felt his body return, he hadn't even noticed it was gone.
He blinked, squinting at the bright blue sky above him. He flexed his fingers, feeling the dry grass beneath him. Grass...
Grass!
Oli shot up, frantically looking around. The voices and the void were practically forgotten, for now. He had much more pressing matters. This wasn't home.
Oli stood, and took a step, his knees almost giving out. What had the void done to him? Then he ran.
"Guys? Hello? Are you there?"
No answer.
"Aimey?"
Nothing.
Oli was beginning to panic. He was alone, in the middle of a savanna, with no tools, no armour...Where were his items? His inventory was completely cleared.
"Hello? Anyone?"
Oli kept running, down the mountain, towards a small house in the distance. A village?
"Guys?"
Oli kept yelling, praying that someone would answer his calls.
It had indeed been a village he'd seen. But Oli ignored the villagers, scanning the area for anyone he recognized.
Then he spotted them. Bekyamon, Eloise, and...
"Aimsey! You're safe!"
The demon spun around just in time to be wrapped in a tight hug.
"You're safe, you're safe, you're safe, you're safe..." Oli rambled, relief he didn't even know he could feel spreading throughout his body. He didn't even care when tears spilled from his eyes, staining Aimsey's sweater.
"I-i thought something had happened, i thought-"
Aimsey returned the hug.
"Oli, I'm fine, I'm okay! Are you?"
Oli nodded, not trusting his voice.
Aimsey was alive, Aimsey was safe. No matter what this new world was, or how long they had to be there, it would be alright, because Aimsey was alright.