Abbigail emerged in a dark space. All she could see was pitch black. No floor, no walls, no portals, just blackness and herself, holding the Endersword and wearing obsidian armor.
Then, the darkness tore itself apart. She found herself in a sunny forest. Shadows from the canopy dotted the ground. Pigs and rabbits roamed about the bushes, and birds sung happily in the trees. A familiar dirt path lay at her feet.
"Is this, Underwood?" Abbigail slowly followed the trail. A nearby shrub rustled. She jumped as a small white dog ran out. It leapt into her lap and started licking her face.
"Sam?" Abbigail giggled as she felt his tongue. He barked joyfully and sped off the trail, towards…
"The farm." Abbigail gasped. She had never come back, not since she left to chase after Jalkar. But if this indeed her past home, then…
"Mr. Finch!" He looked just as she remembered. White, flowing hair, furrowed white brows, and a small, bristling white mustache. However, as she drew closer, she found him sitting on a fence post. His eyes have lost their once vigorous stare, and his brown overalls were now stained with mud.
"You finally decided to come home?" He croaked. There was a tiredness in his voice, not out of exasperation, but of sheer fatigue. "The farm was harder to manage after you were gone. I could hardly keep up with the daily chores. My age has finally caught up to me. I even had to hire hands during the harvests. Why didn't you come back, Abbigail?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Finch." Abbigail replied, lowering her head like a child caught skiving school. "But I couldn't help it. I knew that if I didn't go after those egg thieves, no one else will. The world would be worse off." She looked at him "And our farm would no longer exist."
"Hmph." Mr. Finch crossed his arms. "I suppose that is all good and noble, but what if you got yourself killed? Those Legionnaires are dangerous. I promised your parents to keep you safe!"
"I'm sorry for leaving, and for not coming back." Abbigail said. "But something awakened inside me that day. I don't know if it was the egg or my parent's blood, but I just felt this… impulse to fight. And after that, I cannot let it go. I have been given this gift. I was chosen by the egg, and the End. I must rise to become an Enderknight. I must share my gift with the world."
"Well, I guess you truly are your parents' daughter." Mr. Finch sighed, and the scene vanished in a swirl of colors.
After everything settled down, she found herself beside Sam's body, his entrails leaking out from his side and her hands bloody. It was dark, and she was in a different forest.
"Jalkar!" Abbigail reached for the bow on her back and stumbled. "Ouch!" A shot of pain ran through her leg as she stood up. But no, she will avenge her puppy. She chased after the thief and shot him on the back. As she approached him, bow drawn and arrow loaded, he spoke.
"So, are you happy?" He asked, "I killed your dog, and you killed me. You have avenged him. Are you happy?"
Abbigail let her bow slack. "No. Vengeance is never the answer. It is just an endless cycle of killing. No one benefits from it. Not me, not you. I thought hunting the Legion would help me get my parents back, but I have found new family. My Enderknights, Volcannus, Luna and Thunderdome." Her eyes moisted. "But you must PAY for what you've done." She shot him in the head.
Everything swirled, and when the scene settled once more, she was on top of a snowy hill, overlooking a white plain. Before them a grey wall, as high as the sky, loomed closer and closer. She was draped in a cape, with someone's arm around her shoulders, and her head leaning on his.
"You know," Denny said, "I can always heat up my soup if you would like some."
"If only you still can." Abbigail said, a tear seeping out from her eye. "It was my fault that you got killed. If I hadn't come to your farm, you would still be alive now, happily cooking in your house."
"But," Denny said gently, "If you hadn't come, I would never have met you, nor Saxon, nor Trevor, and we would have never been on this journey." He looked down at her. "Even though it ended sooner than we expected, I lived every second of it. Though the Eye of the End might have chosen us, it was we who decided to follow you, Queen Abbigail."
"Thank you, Denny." They shared a kiss. "I will forever carry you in my heart."
The scene swirled again and this time, she was standing on a rooftop. The sun was getting low in the sky and before her, Alistar leaned against a wall, one hand over his spleen.
"You won't kill me." He shuffled against the wall. "It's not in your nature. You never could make the tough decisions. You are weak."
Abbigail felt a rush of anger at his taunts. She clenched the Endersword, shining purple, tightly in her hand.
"And your puny girl dragon isn't here to help you this time." Alistar taunted "It's just you and me."
"You are wrong." She gripped the sword in both hands, pointing it forward. "I have killed hundreds without the blink of an eye, and you are no different." She thrust the blade forward, but right before it pierced his chest, she froze.
He was different. He was the first man that had triggered her trap. He was the first man she thought she loved. Yes, he stabbed her in the chest, and that broke her heart, but he had taken a place there that no matter how hard she tried, she could not erase. She couldn't, wouldn't kill him.
"Ah." Allistar smiled. He leapt up and snatched the Enderblade from her hands. Driving it forward into her chest, he whispered in her ear,
"No naïve farmer girl should ever be made Enderqueen."
The scene vanished and she appeared in a final room. The inscription on the wall announced the outcome.
You have failed the Ender Trials
Leave while you still can tell the tale
Keep the sword and the crown
But remember they are not yours to own
Abbigail took off the crown and examined it in her hands. "I'm sorry I'm not the Enderqueen I should have been." She confessed to the empty room. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more to protect my Enderknights, and I'm sorry I failed these trials." Her back straightened and Abbigail announced to the room, "But this doesn't mean I'm going to stop fighting. Saxon and Trevor may still be alive, and the Nether will be coming to destroy the End before long." She raised the black Endersword high. "I may be no Enderqueen, but I fight for the End. I ask for your help in these dark times." She walked through the portal before her and emerged outside the cave. Luna snorted at her inactive weapon.
"I know, I'm sorry, Luna." Abbigail patted her snout. "But I am still going to protect you." She hugged her dragon as Endermen began appearing all around them.