BanjoNote: Shorter chapter then usual, mostly just set up for the next two Arcs. I'm just waiting for Age of Calamity to come out and make me neglect everything in my life until I complete it.

And it's only completed until I say it is.

Here's the chapter.

BanjoMano does not own Minecraftia. He does, however, own Blizzard Entertainment, and will give himself infinite Warcraft Subscription time.

A Banjo can Wish.

[Alex]

3 days after the Siege of Lafor…

Our war council consisted of maybe the most… intriguing group. Sileeno and Athara sat at the eastern side; Gimero and Rosa to the west with Josie towering over them; King Korthall at the head of the table; and me and Kat_Kin at the south.

To sum it up, a scientist, a ranger, a merchant, a Captain of the guard, a King, a (basically) demigod, and an alleged criminal (Who was 'undercover') in one place.

By now, I had decided that this was fairly normal.

King Korthall cleared his throat and adjusted his substitute crown, which was an enchanted golden helm. "As you all know, I am alive and well. I was safely evacuated, but in the hurry, we forgot my crown."

"Expensive." Kat whistled quietly. I elbowed her, then turned my attention back to Korthall.

"The Jewel of the Plains has been sieged before – and with worse consequences," He nodded at Sileeno and Athara, the former who was pondering a map. "But the manner of such an attack… Griefers have allied with mobs, but only when a certain… Crafter was with them."

"Crafter?" I leaned forward. "I thought Crafters were made to protect, not destroy."

"Normally, yes." Sileeno looked up from his map. "But the third Crafter is a completely different story. Too long to explain in depth – he waged war on Minecraftia about…" He thought for a second. "It would have been around 63 years ago."

"We've beat him before," Rosa stated. "It'll be easy to do so again."

"Rosa, I barely beat him." Athara corrected. "He's practically impossible to beat in combat now that he has the 8th's power."

"I'm missing a lot of gaps in this story," I declared. "Firstly, did Athara single-handedly beat this third Crafter?"

"Pretty much." Sileeno threw out casually, not removing his gaze from the map. "His power is to control any beings native to Minecraftia. Essentially, he can mind-control anything except Humans and Crafters."

Maybe unconsciously, most of the table's gaze went to Gimero, who was the only native in the room other than Josie. By most, the only person who didn't was Kat, who pulled out 4 apples and began juggling them.

I figured that if I distracted her, I would get nailed by the flying apples. So, I let her continue doing that.

"Continuing with the issue," Korthall continued, wisely ignoring Kat. "We have two… reformed Griefers here in this room with us."

"Two?" Gimero looked around the table quickly, his panic badly hidden."Who's the other one?"

"Did no one tell him?" When no one answered, Athara sighed, exasperated. "It's me."

This wasn't news to me by now. Last night, she interrupted my 'meditation' session and told me the majority of her Griefer past – including her false name. Well, her first false name.

"Something tells me…" She had said. "That I have to let go of the denial. But… I've bottled it up for nearly a century. Is it even possible?"

And I'm I said something wise, because I'm pretty sure we went to a bar after and got wasted. The memory is a bit hazy, but hey, no hangover!

Athara, on the other hand, looked like a hot mess. Her hair was horribly knotted, and she had donned a pair of red sunglasses to cover her eyes. She kicked her boots onto the table, satisfying her gangster look.

She had also changed her look, something that Kat also had not missed. Apparently, she wore her very first outfit – a brown jacket with a white under-shirt, gray pants that hugged her legs tightly, and dark brown boots that looked much more practical then her old ones, since the cuffs were removed. All she needed to do is let her hair grown out and she'd be an exact replica.

"…oh." Gimero interrupted my thoughts. He gave a pained smile, then slid on a Carved Pumpkin, hiding his face.

"Why do you have -" I started, only for him to speedily say "Hallow's End costume."

Hard to argue with that answer.

"With… many disturbing news brewing, I now ask you all – what is our next move? Sileeno and Gimero have killed all hostile mobs in the City of Lafor, allowing us to capture the escaping Griefers." Korthall asked us, sitting up straighter in his chair.

"Our problem is the Broken." Rosa stated, waving a hand at me but not looking in my direction. "Too dangerous to be kept here, too valuable to eradicate."

"Excuse me!?" I glared daggers at her. "I'm not an object! I can hear you."

"Yes. You heard me. You're too easily influenced, which isn't good when your powers are acting up."

"Easily -" I started, instinctively clenching my fists. Almost instantly, Rosa shot up into the air, banging her head with so much force she passed out instantly.

Blinking in surprise, I covered my mouth. "I, ah-"

"Let us focus on dangerous and valuable, not what came after." Sileeno observed. "A Broken requires training. Luckily, I know where Steve is."

Broken. A Crafter whose abilities start acting up, typically due to learning their power. Gimero told me this the first chance he could, much to Sileeno's dismay. I suppose that's what I am – the proof is valid. The time I blew up the Pet shop (No animals were harmed). And the fact that I consumed the same number of Awkward Potions as Athara and have no hangover. First time, too.

"Why Steve in particular?" I asked. "I was with Yara'lyn not too long ago. She said she was going to the BanjoMa-"

Everyone awake at the table, in unison, said "No." I slouched back in my seat and nodded.

"Right. Steve." I looked at Gimero. "You coming with?"

The pumpkin-faced trader looked at me for a straight 30 seconds before starting "Notch, no. I'm out of here as soon as possible. I'm packing bags, and heading straight to Zhoria. A mountain in the middle of a taiga biome… no trouble could possibly follow me there."

"Except the taiga biome of Boreas is bordering the Underdark. The last seen place of the Third Crafter." Korthall sighed. "We need you, Guided. You're the-"

"But why!?" Gimero insisted. "Because I'm Guided? Find some other Guided! I ain't no-"

"Gimero!" Sileeno snapped, causing all of us to pause and stare at him. Excluding Kat, of course. "You feasibly cannot exist. All of the Guided were wiped out 19 years ago, in The Fall. A God did that. Literally, scientifically, you should not be alive."

Slowly, our gaze shifted to Gimero, who slid off his pumpkin mask and stuck a torch casually in it.

Looking at his Jack-o-Lantern, he sighed shakily. "Can I at least get some vacation time booked off? Pretty sure it's illegal to deny me that."

Suddenly, my vision faded into a different place – one that Gimero had described. I saw Gimero and Josie standing at the gates to a mountain city, snow covered. At the peak of the mountain, there was a ornate stone and obsidian castle, with a swirling dark cloud surrounding it. I was flung back into reality, gasping for air and clutching the table.

Athara regarded me casually. "I've met Solomon enough times to recognize his powers in action. What did you see?"

"Gimero and Josie have to go to… Zorie?" I stated/asked, then corrected myself. "Zhoria. Although… there was an obsidian castle, and a dark smoke was swirling around it… protecting it. I don't know what's there, but… it's not good."

"Of course." Gimero swallowed and leaned back in his chair. "Me and Josie to Zhoria, then."

"Adequate," Sileeno rubbed his hands together. "Steve is in the Spine, a large precipitous mountain range that covers the southern border of Minecraftia. I will give you a more punctilious map."

"Meanwhile," Athara piped up. "Me and Kat will travel across Minecraftia to learn the motives and source of the army."

Kat had increased the number of apples she was juggling to five. She looked at Athara without breaking rhythm. "What?"

"Perfect!" Korthall stood up from his chair. "The six of you, five if Alex is still training, shall meet up in the Capital of Minecraftia – Meridos, in the Brioxarat sea. With that, I call this meeting adjourned!" He declared, bowing to us and retreating to his retainers.

"So," Kat put away her apples. "What'd I miss?"

BanjoNote: Yeah. I split the party. Now, time to slowly eliminate them all...

So, the next two Arcs are interesting. The Cowardice is Key arc focuses on Gimero while the other Arc focuses on Alex. For the Cowardice is Key, it also focuses on a genre of writing that I've never written, mostly because I haven't actually had it happen to me in real life.

In the words of the Black Keys, I'm a Lonely Boy.

Here's a little Extra section at the end of the Chapter for an apology of an early hiatus.

[Darkness Incarnate]

"Redonath_Sharpstone," The cold, empty voice echoed across the walls of this pitch-black room. "You have failed. As your… equal, I would ask why."

"The brat is Broken!" I growled, pacing on the spot. "Not only that, but her powers are-"

"Phenomenal," The voice interrupted calmly. "Almost… inconceivably so."

I kicked a pebble on the ground in anger, watching it crumble to dust. "I was… surprised. I didn't expect her to be as powerful as she is."

"No one did." He mused. "The Eldest has decided to grant you… additional powers."

The wooden planks opened up in front of me, and an iron helmet covered with black smoke floated out of the hole in the ground. Instead of a normal helmet, however, it was a domed steel cylinder, with a black grasp from under the nose down.

"The purest form of power lies within it," He explained. "With it, not even the Broken can stand against you. But she's not our next target."

"What have I been ordered to do?" I asked, taking the helmet into my hands.

"What have we been ordered to do." He corrected. As I raised the helmet over my eyes, the speaker turned around, his eyes glowing a pure white. "We move after the Broken's most valuable ally. The Guided must go."

B/N: Next Chapter: Ignorance is Bliss! Until then, Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! Have a Spooky Day! And, as always, Banjo-on!