Chapter 16: Past and Presence

One final day before the party would begin…

Pickaxe, having finished the decorations in the village square, was simply minding his own business at the fountain. While he was staring off into the distance, he noticed something was approaching. This something was a miner. And not just any miner, either. Pickaxe could easily recognize the dark green-eyed red head. He was wearing a blue t-shirt, black pants, and green shoes.

"Vincent! How've you been?" greeted Pickaxe.

Vincent let out a small laugh. "Eh, pretty good. How about you?" he replied. "Same old, same old…" Pickaxe responded, "What happened to you by the way? I haven't seen you since we reclaimed the Nether base!" "Ha… well, after I got to the village, Sabrina and I decided it would be best for me to check on my family, seeing as I was gone for a while…" He scratched his head in embarrassment. "At least I got to see my wife and son after all this time; they were both worried sick about me!" he continued. Pickaxe agreed.

Vincent seemed like the kind of person worth caring about.

Rosetta and Jewel were helping decorate the other areas in the village, and that included Jewel's house. The jukeboxes and banners were coming along nicely for Jewel. Meanwhile, Rosetta placed elegant pieces of quartz and glazed terracotta. Indeed, the house was starting tool a bit more like a royal palace! "Need anything else, ladies?" yelled Blade, down at the ground level where he could pass up materials. "No, thank you, Blade! We're actually doing pretty good up here!" Rosetta replied, passing Jewel another banner.

"Okay, then!" Blade replied, "Let me know if you need anything!"

Victor was busy helping move certain supplies across the village. In this instance, Sabrina had somehow convinced him to take milk and eggs over to the farm. He just couldn't say no to her friendly demeanor, and now he was in this situation. At least he wasn't the only one… "Come to think of it, now I can see where I get my black hair from," Stan commented, placing several hay bales to the side while putting some crops to plant. "So, how was life, being my dad's big brother and all?"

Ah, the good old days…

Victor stopped placing milk and eggs in the chest, motioning for Stan to come sit next to him. "You actually remind me of myself when I was young…" he began, "intelligent, reserved, determined. When your father came along, I knew I had to look out for him. And that's what I did. When you're in a city as big as Mojang and you're not careful, people will trample all over you! That's why Reed and I, we had each other's backs. We did everything together. We mined, fought, even had a bit of fun. We even discovered this very village together, though I doubt even you know that…"

Victor continued telling Stan his life's story, as the sun began to set.

At long last, the village was ready for the celebration to begin. Redstone lamps had been placed all about the town, and miners had gotten their best clothes on for the occasion. The boys in Pickaxe's group were at Jewel's house, putting on the clothes Sabrina had chosen for them. The other girls waited outside. "Hurry up, already, the party's about to start!" Madison complained. She was wearing a nice red silk gown, with red evening gloves and dark red flat shoes.

"Give us a sec, woman!" Texik yelled from the other side.

Rosetta sighed, "Boys…" She herself was wearing a yellow dress that blended into orange with orange high heels and short yellow evening gloves. "I'm honestly surprised my mother even had these clothes…" Jewel interjected, who was wearing a diamond blue dress with dark blue high heels. Sarah said nothing as she waited, with a purple dress, black evening gloves, and purple flat shoes. "Okay, we're ready!" Endre said on the opposite side of the door.

The boys stepped out of the room, with extremely classy attire.

Texik was wearing a dark green suit, dark green pants, a black tie, black shoes, and his hair (minimally) straightened out. Endre wore a dark purple suit pants, a hot pink tie, black shoes, and his usually shaggy hair was in order. Stan wore a black suit, black pants, black shoes, had on a diamond-blue tie, and had taken off his glasses, his moppy hair left unchanged. Blade wore a dark orange suit pants, dark brown shoes, a red and yellow blended tie, and his brown hair was pulled into a manly pony tail. Finally, there was Pickaxe, who wore a dark red suit pants, dark blue shoes, a gold colored tie, and his hair's usually messy spikes were laid flat with the rest of his hair.

"Wow…" was the phrase that left everyone's lips.

"I have to admit, your mother has good taste, Jewel," commented Texik, checking himself out in his new suit and tie. "You look stunning, my lady," Blade complemented Rosetta, who went a bit pink at this. Endre couldn't even take his eyes off of Jewel; Stan had to elbow him out of his trance. While Pickaxe looked at nobody in particular, he didn't notice Sarah giving him a thoughtful glance.

Sabrina popped her head through the front door. "Come on, everyone!" she encouraged.

The group walked outside to find the entire village in full swing. Music was blaring out of the jukeboxes as the miners danced, conversed, and ate. It was truly a sight to behold. Of course, Texik's main concern was the food, which is why he decided to run off to the dining table the second he got the chance. Madison sighed. "He's hopeless…" Everyone else laughed.

"Come on," Pickaxe said, "let's have some fun!"

Several hours later, Pickaxe and company found themselves sprawled on the floor. The party, which was still going on, had really gotten to them. Texik was twitching due to the sugar overload he had received at the dining table. "Too...many...cookies…" he groaned, trying to raise himself up but eventually collapsing. The others had simply danced too much. Eventually, Stan managed to pick himself back up.

"Okay, let's get back home…" he stated.

Blade had managed to pick himself up as well, grabbing Rosetta and carrying her back to the new house they would be residing in. Victor had opted to stay home instead of attend the party. With Margret, Reed, and Sabrina's help, Stan carried the rest of the group back to the house. He placed Jewel in her room, while everyone else was put in guest rooms. As Reed was about to enter his room to join his beloved wife, something grabbed his shoulder. He turned around; it was Victor.

"We need to talk," he said, his voice filled with urgency.