Alex and Steve rushed to the vein of diamonds sitting in the walls. Blinded by the bliss, they mindlessly pulled out their iron pickaxes and began picking at the gemstones until they got every last bit. Breaking one revealed yet another behind and below it, and a yelp of joy from the two.

After countless hours of searching, they finally felt like they found a place to stop. A total of 12 diamonds from the single vein left them ecstatic, adding up to 13 diamonds in their possession. With a jump for joy and blissful cheer, Steve ran up to Alex and hugged her tight, laughing together with wide smiles.

“WE DID IT!” Alex shouted, throwing the diamonds in the air, far enough from the lava so they don’t accidentally fall in. “Finally!”

Steve fell back onto the wall and exhaled. Opening his inventory, he stared at the six diamonds resting between his iron tools, unable to lose his smile.

“I wonder what we can make with these!” Alex continued. “Maybe they’re like iron and can be turned into gear!”

While picking up the diamonds she threw around, she suddenly came up with an idea. Steve watched as her wide emerald eyes somehow widened and her head lifted from the ground.

“Maybe we can turn them into weapons! Can you imagine what a diamond bow would look like?! Maybe even the arrows, hell, what if we could have diamond food?!”

“Diamond food sounds like a stretch,” Steve replied with a laugh.

“Imagine it!” She looked to the sky and bit her bottom lip. “A nice stew with diamonds sprinkled on top!” After a squeal she erratically tapped her feet on the ground, unable to contain her excitement.

“That doesn’t sound edible,” Steve said closing his inventory.

“More edible than the shit you offered!” After having returned her share of the diamonds, she threw the rotten flesh Steve had given her into the lava. It quickly boiled and sunk into the endless pit.

“Hey! Don’t yuck it ‘till you try it!”

“Please! Have you even tasted it?!”

“No, but still…” Alex laughed over him. “I am more than willing, given the opportunity!”

“Then try it right now!” Alex took a seat in front of Steve, crossed her legs, and watched with a smug grin as if she knew what his reaction would be. “I’m waiting.”

“I…” Caught off guard by her excitement, Steve turned his head with a blush and nervously continued. “I’m not hungry.”

“Yeah right! We haven’t eaten in hours!”

“I had a few of those berries saved up. I’m more than-!”

“Fine, then. I guess that means we can look for more, right?” Alex got on her feet and looked over the lava lake.

“More what?”

“Diamonds.” Steve flinched at her response. “Since we found some, that means there are more around here.”

“Y-you’re kidding, right?” He stuttered. “A few minutes ago you wanted to go back. I think now is a good time to-!”

“What’s the problem?” She turned back to him with her eyes narrowed and a smirk. “You aren’t hungry, right?”

“I’m more-so worried about you, Alex.”

“Is that right?” Steve nodded. “Alright, let’s go back. I would kill for some diamond stew.”

Alex and Steve leave the lava lake using the path they created to enter and begin retracing their steps in the dark caverns. Everything from the puddles of lava and water, leftover iron, and even the singular spots they mined out were things Alex had somehow remembered and used as a pathway to returning.

However, her memory could only get them so far. They managed to return to the shallow lake they had dived into and stared up at the darkness above them. The spiders that chased them down had disappeared and left them with no way of getting back up.

After a sigh, Steve looked back at the hanging stalactites that led in to the lush cave. The narrow and dangerous path full of hanging and grounded spikes looked enticing, if only for a moment.

Alex caught his eyes.

“Were those berries any good?” Her sudden question stole his attention. Caught by surprise, he just looked at Alex confused. “The glowing ones. A wandering trader would bring them to the village and give them to the villagers. He never let me try them, though.”

“Pretty good, I think? My pallet isn’t really broad.”

“Are they anything like the berries upstairs?” Steve shrugged, not knowing what those were. “Right…”

“If you’re hungry, we can grab some.”

“No thanks, we need to focus on finding a way back up.”

Steve took a seat on the hanging stone behind Alex and looked up to the darkness once again.

“We could build up,” Alex continued, “but it could be dangerous. We don’t know what’s up there.”

“Our shields can block them.”

“Yeah, but…” Alex averted her eyes to the shallow water beneath her. She could see her own reflection and watched the green-eyed ginger looking back at her. “I don’t think it’s safe.” Steve noticed her change in tone, and with a stretch, he turned to the wall with his pickaxe.

“Then we mine our way to the top,” Steve replied.

Alex watched as he broke the first few pieces of stone before standing up. The two of them moved up the staircase as Steve broke them and continued the path until they reached the wood structure.

As the flow of the river faded away, the clashing of Steve’s pickaxe against the stone, the waning flame on Alex’s torch, and their footsteps following it were the only sounds audible in the wide caves. As they slowly progressed, Alex noticed several ores sticking out of the wall adjacent to them, as well as several more open caves waiting to be explored. As much as she wanted to grab them, she knew the dangers that could come with them.

“Hey, Alex.” Steve suddenly called without looking away from the wall.

“What’s up?” He managed to steal her attention.

“I’d like to ask a question about the villagers... if you don’t mind.” He glanced to his side to see if Alex had shifted attitudes, and to his surprise, she seemed unphased.

“Yeah, no. Go ahead.”

“You mentioned that most of them couldn’t talk like us. Does that mean you didn’t have many friends?”

Alex opened her mouth, taken aback by his question. Her silence made Steve feel a little uneasy, wondering if he had poked a little too hard into her life. Furrowing his brows, her looked back to the path ahead and continued to mine.

“I had friends…” Alex continued; her voice softer than before. “Only for a little while, though. I spent most of my time with my dad and Beverly.” Her voice got happier the further she went in her answer.

“Dad? Was he one of the villagers, or did he look like us?”

“He was a librarian villager. Sometimes he would tell me about the day he found me at night and remind me of the things he did to raise me well.” Her mood drastically changed the further they went from the other villagers. “I may not have looked like him, but he raised me like his own daughter.”

“Do you remember the story?”

“I dream about it every night since…” She caught herself and hesitated to answer. She looked at Steve’s back. “… since you came.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it isn’t your fault.” An awkward silence filled the air as the wooden platform came into view. Alex’s eyes brightened at the sight and a pearly white smile formed. “We’re almost there!”

“Do you see any monsters?”

“No! I think they went away.”

The two made it to the platform and celebrated with a jump. Alex looked into the darkness below and marveled at the fact that they survived the drop. She looked around at the wall they ran from and laughed at the cobbled stone wall blocking the way to the spawner.

“That felt like so long ago!”

“Right?” Steve laughed with her. “Thankfully they went away.”

“Let’s not waste any more time and get back home.” Alex turned the other way, and with a stretch, she continued.

“I’m starving!”

“There’s still the rotten flesh if you’re really hungry.”

“Over my undead body!”

They used Alex’s memory once again to make their way out of the maze of a mineshaft, spending several minutes trying to find a path she recognized. After a short moment, they found the zombie spawner they torched, and the creeper patch on the stone nearby. After shoveling the gravel, they got out of the mineshaft and began making their way to the surface.

There was no light on the other side following their way in. Absolute darkness and a path of burnt-out torches. Steve looked at the night sky with a worried face, his fear of the tall monster creeping its way up his spine.

Alex patted his shoulder to reaffirm security, only to slightly scare him in the process.

“We stick together, remember?”

After receiving a soft nod, Alex led the way following the torches she left on the ground. Once they entered the forest, Steve and Alex clung close together, watching each other’s backs in case anything was to attack them.

Their time underground gave them enough experience against all types of monsters except for the Enderman that haunts Steve’s dreams. Their armor could withstand any sudden skeleton shots, their shields could last against creeper explosions, and zombies were as much of a threat as a sheep. However, anything could get them if they were caught off guard.

“Can you tell me the story?” Steve asked getting Alex’s attention. “The one your dad told you.”

“No matter how many times he told it, it always started in a flower field when the sun was at its highest and the villagers were beginning their chores.” She answered with a smile.

Dad would say he found me crying alone in the middle of a flower forest, scaring the animals away and causing a racket in the forest. He was shocked to see something like me, and his curiosity drove him to lead me to the village. I was obviously too young to understand anything that was going on, but I followed him because I found him funny-looking.

He introduced me to the other villagers, let me make friends with the kids that lived there, and gave me a place to stay until someone came to pick me up. I was different from the villager kids in every way possible. I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, and they couldn’t understand me. He was forced to use the language used in the books to communicate with me, and the other villagers didn’t want to.

I was a crazy kid, or so he’d tell me. I always wanted to learn more, play more, eat more, and do more than the other kids. While they learned after their parents, I learned from everything around me. A few days after moving in, I stole one of the Blacksmith’s swords, the Toolsmith’s axe, and the Fletcher’s bow. I learned to read, pretty quickly, and I could use every one of the villager’s workstations.

They were all amazed until dad taught me how to utilize the power to craft. After that, they all turned on me.

The adults shunned me, prohibiting me from using their workstations. The kids laughed at me when I made the smallest mistake, and the village guards stopped worrying about me. No one would bat an eye for me other than dad and his guard.

“Your dad taught you how to craft?” Steve asked, taking Alex out of her mind. “If he isn’t like us, how would he know?”

“He didn’t teach me how to do it.” Alex interrupted. “I picked that up myself. He taught me how and when to use it.”

“Oh, so he’s oblivious to how it actually works?”

“I told him, and he was able to visualize it. He was a smart villager, so he could put things together rather quickly. He taught me a majority of these recipes.”

“He sounds amazing.”

“Yeah…” Alex lowered her head and somberly smiled. “The amazingest.”

The two were nearing the cabin home without coming across any interferences on the path. As Alex caught sight of the rising campfire smoke, she rushed ahead to see Beverly once again after the long expedition. Steve was shocked once she started running and struggled to keep up.

They safely returned to Alex’s home and greeted the animals that had been awaiting their return. Beverly, most of all, was so excited when Alex arrived that she leaped out of her pen for a pat. While Alex tended to her animals, Steve went into the home and unpacked everything he received from the caves.

He could hear Alex’s laughs while sorting his stuff. Her joyful giggles warmed his heart in a way he couldn’t understand. They had been underground and stressed for so long that even he felt relieved to return.

While putting things away, he came across the bucket containing the axolotl he picked up in the lush cave. He had forgotten he got it. After peaking out the door and seeing Alex preoccupied, he pulled out the bucket and stared at the smiling creature. The tentacles on the side of its face wiggled as they had underground, and it seemed unphased about its location change.

“What does she see in you?” Steve asked, still disgusted by its appearance. He tossed it back into his inventory, beside the five diamonds he split with Alex.

Now with an inventory cleared of junk, he took off his armor and tossed them in the chest. Steve stepped outside and walked up to Alex, who was trying to put Beverly back in her stable.

“I’ve never seen her so happy,” Steve said.

“She gets like this when I’m gone for too long.” Alex replied, getting off of the horse and patting her golden mane.

“One time she came looking for me while I was out on an adventure. I was so surprised!”

Steve watched the two interact like long-term friends and smiled at the sight. It was obvious to him that Alex loved Beverly, and the feelings were mutual.

“We should probably get some rest, huh?” Alex asked in the middle of a laugh. “You sheer some of the sheep over there while I unpack. It’s about time we make you a bed.”

Alex quickly made Steve a pair of sheers using two iron ingots and passed by him with a stretch. While she was sorting her inventory, she could hear the cries of a few sheep coming from outside and laughed at the thought of Steve messing up. A task as simple as sheering sheep turned out to be more difficult for him than she thought.

Steve soon walked into the home and went straight for the crafting table. Alex watched him from the corner of her eye.

“A few sheep were harmed in the making of this bed.” He replied, holding the miniature bed in his hand.