The trip to the escorts was quiet. The crew hadn't talked since the confrontation with the rogue group members. Adonis thought that they were kind of the rogue group members now.
Preston was the most depressed Adonis had ever seen him. He was hit the hardest—he was making friends of his own and he probably felt as if they he found and equal. Now those same friends were the enemy.
"We mustn't lose attention," Evan said confidently. "This all must be happening for a reason. We usually never get caught, especially two times in a row."
"Or maybe it's bad luck," said Maxine from a far distance in the back. "How could you hear me?" Evan asked. Adonis saw her shrug and then grin. How she was so happy during these times, he didn't know. But he sure wanted whatever joy potion she had. As they were struggling along, they saw the barrier of the Badlands. They had never gotten this close to it before, they were always stopped and accused of trying to leave.
Adonis looked around. Sage did the same apparently, because she shouted, "Coast is clear!"
"I was supposed to be looking out, you two!" Evan whined. "That's what I'm here for! I'm the eyes!"
Another person descended rapidly out of the sky, landing (somewhat) gracefully on their feet. The scene gave the whole crew a start, Sage letting out a rough yell and fireball. The person dodged, and Adonis admired their great agility. They patted their shoulder, extinguishing the flame off.
"Who are you?!" Preston shouted, something that he never does. He usually leaves the commentary to the other members. Wayne had his fists up and clenched.
"The escort who is going to be taking you to Diamon," said the stranger shortly. "My partner will be here any second now." She tapped her feet against the ground impatiently. "Very smooth," said Adonis under his breath. "Thank you," replied the stranger, managing to hear him somehow. Seriously, what was up with all the super-hearing today?
Adonis blushed a bit. Soon after, another figure was freefalling out of the atmosquare, only not as gracefully. He landed with a crash as his partner commented, "He's not as smooth."
They all giggled, and the person got up and wiped himself off. "Hiya, kids!" He said enthusiastically. "I'm Shawn, son of the sheep goddess Shega! This is my sister," he said, pointing to the other girl. "We're Skyborn!"
"They did not need that information," said the sister coldly. Shawn brushed it off. "Her name's Shera, by the way." Adonis was silent the entire time. "Hmph," he heard Maxine scoff from the back.
"So anyways, we need you to come with us," declared Shera. "Years ago we used boats to get to and fro here from Diamon. We don't live in the Midblock Ages anymore, though, and we use a quicker approach. It is more dangerous, and that's part of the reason why we're guiding you there." She now pointed up the barrier, which was made up of abstract structured blocks. To get over the barrier you would have to do a huge amount if parkour.
"We conveniently placed the nether portal up there a few years ago. Well, convenient for us... Non-delinquents," she added quietly. Sage looked as if we was going to comment, but Adonis beat her to it. "Did you say nether portal? No one crosses there! Ever!" He said flabbergasted.
"Well yes, especially now with the... Current event of things," Shawn claimed. "What do you mean?" Evan asked. "Why, you haven't heard? Herobrine's Blade has been stolen from his possession. He's gone completely berserk, making the Nether more dangerous than it's ever been before."
Adonis was utterly shocked. How could someone as great as Herobrine could lose something so powerful and precious. "Him and our savior, Notch, have been fighting ever since he lost it," continued Shera. "He claims that Notch has something to do with it. They've never gotten along. The automatic sibling rivalry they have.." She trailed off. Shawn took over once more. "We only have permission to go through the portal to collect you 8 and come back. That's how long Notch's protection lasts through the dimension. If we go through it once more, Notch's shield won't work on us and we will be vulnerable. We also can only be in the dimension for a certain amount if time before the shield breaks."
"Speaking of that," Sage now interjected, "Shouldn't we get going? We don't want to miss the time we have to be there." Shawn and Shera nodded, "We have to parkour up there," they said in unison. Adonis stretched his arms to the sides and frontwards, about to brag his skills up again. "No problem for me! I've been training all my friends to do this, so it shouldn't be a problem for them, though I'm not sure," he grinned. Sage smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow!"
Shera finally smirked. "Well then, let's begin!"
