Parallels- an MCSM AU [COMPLETED]

TWENTY-ONE- This Side of Nowhere

reeeeeeeeeeee

i've been looking forward to this part since like february

though to be fair it's not until the next chapter that we get into the part i'm really excited about, but still

:3

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I landed on my feet on the other side of the gate, still with my diamond sword in my hand. I hadn't even given it a second's thought, just leaped into the white abyss behind Essa and her Aiden.

To my surprise, the battle didn't immediately continue in this new timeline. It was suddenly day, the sun peeking hesitantly through high clouds, with the two villains nowhere to be seen.

I straightened my stance, looking confusedly around as Julia appeared beside me. We were in a birch forest, the kind with the impossibly tall trees that seem like they could rival even a jungle. A light breeze stirred the high-up leaves, but no other sounds could be heard.

We were alone.

"What...what the hell?! Where are they?" I exclaimed, turning in a full circle. "I was right behind him! How...?"

Julia shook her head, looking just as lost as I was. "I have no idea. Maybe...Essa manipulated the gate somehow? So we'd end up far away from her?"

I reached up, running a hand through my hair in bewilderment. "I guess? And where the hell even are we?"

"I don't know. This biome is a little too generic to recognize." Julia said. "And we won't be able to figure out which timeline we're even in until we get somewhere we're familiar with."

I sighed. "Dammit. This is bad. I hope the others are okay. Especially Aiden, he didn't look too good."

"What even happened back there?" Julia asked. "One minute I was asleep, then I heard Aiden yelling, and bam, there was Essa. What were they doing there?"

"No way to know until we get back." I replied resignedly.

I scanned the area again. We were up on a slight hill, which helped me get a decent look at where we were. There were no immediate landmarks, until I turned my gaze west and saw a thin column of smoke wafting up from fairly nearby.

Shielding my eyes with one hand, I studied the smoke. It didn't look like it was from a forest fire, but rather, something more controlled, which could only mean there were other people nearby.

I pointed this out to Julia, suggesting we head towards it. We had only taken a few steps, though, when a new problem arose.

Julia hissed under her breath and went down, crouching on one knee and grabbing her ankle. "Ah, shit."

"What?" I asked, pausing beside her.

She looked up at me with pain twisting her features. "I think I got hurt during the fight. That jerk knocked my feet out from under me, and I think he either kicked me harder than I thought, or I landed weird. Or both."

"Are you...okay to walk? At least to whatever that is?" I asked worriedly, indicating the smoke. She glared down at her ankle.

"Probably. It hurts, but I've been through worse."

We started towards where I'd seen the smoke, walking fairly slowly to prevent Julia exerting herself too much. The birch-covered hills soon gave way to a classic plains biome, dotted here and there with oak trees. And not far away from us stood the beginnings of a little town.

The trail of smoke was rising up from the chimney of one of the nearest buildings, which appeared to be a blacksmith's shop. As we drew closer, I could see that the town was a very small one- only a dozen or so buildings, all made of oak or birch wood and embellished with stone. An iron golem lumbered past the fountain in the center of the town, its heavy feet making loud thuds as it walked.