The maze of portals was dizzying to Jesse. Swirling colors lit up every hallway. Green, yellow, red. Each and every color was present and that made navigating the maze even more difficult. Ivor, Lukas, and Petra were falling behind her, the portals' flashing lights distracting them all. Jesse was tempted to fall behind with them, but she was too determined to find some sort of portal that resembled a The End portal. She had a gut feeling that told her that if they found a portal that could lead to The End, it would lead them home. After all, The End was a limited space and they could eventually find the remnants of Soren's portal.

Jesse rounded the corner of the hallway, her eyes scanning the portals. All of the portals seemed to be either golden or orange except for the one a couple of paces down. It resembled a Nether portal. Obsidian blocks surrounded the shimmering violet, speckled of purple falling out of it and onto the floor. It looked like a perfectly normal Nether portal but as Jesse neared, she saw that it was a bit... off. The patterns weren't quite right and moved unnaturally. The usual fluid movements of the magic inside the barrier were actually jagged, zig-zagging to and fro. When Jesse stood right in front of it, a sudden sense of dread flooded her. She stood there, confused at the sudden flux of emotion until she felt something push her hard into the portal. She almost vomited when strange and unnatural magic tore through her and threw her into a new world.

Petra, meanwhile, rounded the corner and abruptly stopped her argument with Ivor. An eerie silence fell as her companions realized that Jesse was no longer in front of them, impatiently waiting for them. She was gone, sparks of violet replacing her form.

When Jesse woke up, all she felt was searing heat. The warmth heated up her armor and made her smell a horrid burnt smell. She gagged and rolled over, cracking her eyes open. Blocks of red and gray immediately greeted her, giving her a clue to where she was: the Nether. Well. At least she wasn't wrong about where the portal led to.

The girl groggily sat up, wiping her face with her palm. The heat was almost unbearable to her. She knew the Nether was hot, but the heat was beyond what she had felt when she had first come to the wretched world. It was like someone had cranked up the heat from one hundred degrees to a thousand. Jesse eventually stood up, sweating profusely. She gazed at her surroundings, a look of confusion immediately crossing her face.

No mob was lurking about. No zombie pigmen, no Blazes. There weren't even any Ghasts, the most common and annoying mob in the Nether. It was like everything had died in the world, leaving nothing behind except for the lava and mushr- wait, no, now that Jesse looked more closely, there weren't any mushrooms in sight. The girl frowned, but didn't say a word. Not that she would want to, anyway. Her throat was already parched.

So, the hero ventured forward, making sure to move as quickly as possible. She was certain that she would eventually find something of use in the desolate landscape. And, fortunately, the girl found a portal after a couple minutes of shuffling around the unfamiliar territory. At first, her mind told her to be cautious. After all, who left a portal unguarded, and who would ever think of entering a suspicious portal? But, after a few seconds of gradually losing all the water inside of her, Jesse entered the portal, praying that the world she entered was better than the wasteland she left behind.

This time, Jesse managed to stay awake throughout the entire transaction. When she entered the tunnel of violet, it jarred her entire system. It felt like she was being stretched out, barely being kept together by a thread. Her mind screamed, but when she opened her mouth, static filled the air. It was so surreal. She could barely comprehend what had happened when she tumbled out of the portal onto the emerald green grass below.

The girl could barely sit up after the second trip through a portal. Her muscles ached, her skin felt like it was on fire, and her throat felt raw. It didn't help that the travel had left her disoriented. However, despite of all of the pain she was in, she could hear the lovely rush of fresh water a few feet in front of her and immediately scurried forward to it, eager for a taste of relief.

It was such a shame that she didn't hear the alarmed shouts of several people or the sound of the loud footsteps behind her. She didn't even see the cold eyes of her friend, Olivia, as she knocked Jesse out cold with a hit to the head.

The Order of the Stone, the Ocelots, and Petra stared in shock as Olivia and Axel marched into their bunker, carrying an unconscious figure. They weren't staring because of what they were carrying; it was a matter of who. The duo were carrying a small, able-bodied girl clad in enchanted armor. The very same girl who attempted to destroy the Witherstorm. The same girl who was currently destroying their world.

Hey. So, I was bored and I thought of this scenario. This will be a short story about portals, death, and fallen heroes. I was mostly inspired by a fanfiction called Sinking Feeling and, of course, the fifth episode of Minecraft Story Mode! Read the story and play the episode.

Please review and tell me how I'm doing so far.