Abbigail brooded in her cell. Remembering how she had once dreamed to be like Senn and Ria, she felt childish and stupid. Maybe she was just an uneducated farmer, who should never have left the farm. Now, she lost everything. Her Enderknights are either dead, or worse, imprisoned like her.
Someone approached the door. It was a Netheran with a tray in his hands. He came closer, and his face came into view. A guard shoved the tray inside through a flap. Abbigail looked at the food. Some sort of steak, a few weird looking mushrooms, and a cup of white-ish milk.
"Eat up, you'll need your strength for what comes next." Abbigail looked up. Volcannus took off the helmet and looked at her through the bars. By his side were two wither skeletons. "Don't worry, it's not poisonous."
Abbigail threw the tray at him, spilling the milk all over his face. "Traitor!" She yelled.
"Do you not trust me?" Volcannus gently wiped the food clean.
"Give. Me. A. Reason. To." Abbigail said. "Because the second you open that cell door, I'm gonna…"
"Do what?" Volcannus ripped apart the two skeletons and unlocked the door. Smiling, he greeted Abbigail. "If you will, My Lad…"
Abbigail gave him a crisp and loud smack on the face. "Don't you "my lady" me!" She marched up and grabbed him by the collar. Pinning Volcannus against the prison wall, she shouted, "Explain yourself!"
"I understand that you might be a bit vexed at…" Volcannus began.
"Vexed?" Abbigail screamed. "You threw me in a dungeon!"
"I needed your reactions to appear convincing." Volcannus said. Abbigail let him go. "I do not know how good of an actor you are. Besides, I could not be sure you would approve." She calmed down.
"From now on, when you ask for someone's trust, you do the same for them!" Abbigail said, still clenching her fists.
"As you wish." Volcannus bowed. "I do apologize, my lady."
"And where's my things?" Abbigail asked, marching down the corridor. Volcannus trotted behind her.
"Right around here, in this room." Volcannus pointed. "I have to admit, this was not one of my better plans, but it is the most discreet way of bringing you into the city."
"This is discreet?" Abbigail flared up again. She grabbed her bow and arrows and secured them on her back. "Did you throw a party up there?"
"As a matter of fact, some of us did, and I had to join." Volcannus admitted. "It is indeed a victorious occasion for us to capture the leader of another realm."
"Right, real discreet." Abbigail finished as she picked up her new sword.
"Again, it wasn't one of my better plans." Volcannus led the way up to the castle's halls. "However, it was the best one I could come up with. Believe me, I've even considered having you dress up as a Netheran or worse, a wither skeleton."
"Ugh," Abbigail shivered. "Me as a skeleton? I do prefer this plan, thank you very much."
Volcannus chuckled. "Did you know that all Netherans are what humans identify as males?" He said casually as they walked down the Netherbrick passage ways. "When we would like to have a child, we, um, find a partner, and a large enough lava pool. In the Nether, of course." He added. "I read that Magnorites do much the same thing."
"And what?" Abbigail asked, "You jump in it? Have a bath together?"
Volcannus chuckled again. "No, something more romantic than that. We hold our palms to each other's, and enter a stasis, that's kind of like sleeping. After a few days, a new Netheran rises from the lava and calls both Netherans father."
"So who is your other father?" Abbigail asked.
"To be honest, I don't know." Volcannus said. "He died before I could remember things. King Kronus told me he died in a tribal civil war or something with the Piglins."
"Piglins? Like those that 'greeted' me at the portal?" They turned into a narrower corridor and down a spiraling staircase.
"Yes. Ah, we are here." They stopped before a large wooden door. Volcannus took out the keys Kiki stole and unlocked it. The room resembled a bank vault, filled with golden objects and exotic artefacts. In the back was an open Ender chest, and on one table there rested an orange crown and an orange sword.
Volcannus entered. "This is the room we opened while we were in the End." He pointed to the Ender chest. "That was where Kiki flew out." Picking up the crown and the sword, he turned back to Abbigail and placed the crown on his head. It glowed orange, and so did the sword.
"Who are you?" Abbigail asked in awe.
"I am Volcannus, son of the late King Kronus, and rightful heir to the Nether throne." He announced. There was a majestic and unquestioning air around him as he approached Abbigail.
"You are the Nether king?" Abbigail was both surprised and angry at once. "After all this time, I thought you were just some general among Pythus's ranks. Is there anything else you've failed to tell me?"
"Well," Volcannus put down the crown and sword. "Perhaps. Queen Abbigail, I haven't been entirely forthcoming with you. In fact, much of what I have told you were only half-truths with occasional exaggeration, excluding secrets and classified information, and circumventing the actual details of my plans, half of which were uncertainties and half of those half as likely to be possible. I assure you however, that what I tell you, I tell you for a reason."
"Do you not realize," Abbigail stepped up to him. Though she was about a half a head shorter, it did not dampen the outrage she felt. "That as Enderqueen, I am an equal to you and have a right to know?"
"Indeed, you do." Volcannus replied. "However, is it not true that before you came here, you knew only so much of your realm, nearly nothing of mine, and absolutely nothing of the conflict between our realms." Volcannus put on a charming smile. "I can choose what to tell you, because you lack the knowledge."
Abbigail deflated. "When did you find out you were the true Nether king?"
"Shortly after my father was murdered and Pythus usurped the throne," Volcannus began, "I found the crown in his chambers, faded and black. When I put it on, it glowed orange as it does now. Shortly afterwards, he moved it here and I lost access to it."
"If you had known all this time," Abbigail asked, "Why have you not taken back…"
"Because I would not have the support of the people." Volcannus said. "If I had attempted, it would look like just another bloodthirsty brother murdering his own kin for power. Only with these will the people realize that Pythus is the false king."
"Now, I will fulfill my promises, as you have filled yours. I will answer any question you have about the End. Any answer I do not have, we may find in one of the books in the Nether archive."
"I am glad to hear that." Abbigail replied. As they exited the vault and walked back up the steps, she asked, "Has there ever been a female Enderknight?"
"Never." Volcannus answered. "You are the first."
"And is it true that the crown and swords of the Ender and Nether kings are related?" Abbigail resumed, "One of my knights told me that at the beginning of time, one crown and one sword, for each of the Nether and Ender kings, were crafted. They were made of obsidian extracted from the heart of the Nether and the deepest caves in the End, able to cut through any overworld weapon. That the artefacts would light up and release their true power when they are used by the True kings."
"That is correct." Volcannus said. "And you need to learn to wield yours. Here is something that can help you." He took out some yellow-orange meatballs. "These are what we call muscle balls. They are made from ground sporeback meat and blaze powder."
Abbigail looked at the spheres in his hand. "What are…"
"They are our cattle." Volcannus predicted Abbigail's question. "Kind of like cows and sheep in the overworld."
Abbigail raised the meatball to her mouth. "Don't eat it just yet." Volcannus stopped her. "Eat it before your exercises. To build up physique."
She wrapped the strength balls in a pouch Volcannus gave her and put it in her pocket. "My crown activated for me at first, but no more. It happened after Denny died. How is this possible?"
"It is because your status as Enderqueen has been called into question." Volcannus replied. They arrived at a large library, shelves brimming with books and scrolls.
"How do I reclaim my status as Enderqueen?"
"That…" Volcanus searched among the isles, "is recorded somewhere…ah ha!" He pulled out a thick and ancient-looking volume.
"If the Enderking's ability to rule falls into question, he," Volcannus looked apologetically at Abbigail, "must pass the Ender Trials. If passed, the king will arise stronger than before. If failed, the king will fall and be no more." He flipped through the pages. "Hmm, there does not seem to be much else." He placed the volume back on the shelf.
"That's all the information I need." Abbigail said. "The Eye must be leading me to the Trial chambers. Thank you, Volcannus. I have failed my Enderknights and must redeem myself in the face of the End."
"Wait!" Volcannus scribbled on a piece of paper. "The Trial Chambers must have words written in ancient symbols. Though the spelling of each word remained much the same, each letter has evolved over the centuries. Take this slip so you may understand what is written."
"Thank you." Abbigail took it and tucked it in her pocket.
"If we win this war, that is, I retake the Nether throne and you become a true Enderqueen, the I am happy to give this book as a present, a well-wisher to the friendship of our realms." Volcannus said as they left the library. "For now, we must linger no longer." They exited the castle and Volcannus pulled out a wheelbarrow and a potato sack from a bush. "Now, if you'll excuse me, we have to get you back out. No one will suspect me pushing a wheelbarrow with a huge sack inside."
"Unless the sack is moving." Abbigail mumbled as she pulled it over herself and hopped into the wheelbarrow.