Chapter 10: Beginning of tbe Broken Arc

BanjoNote: Ah, yes. The Broken Arc is here! One of the most important Arcs in Update: Pillage! I am also disappointed to announce that The Fall is delayed for... an unknown amount of time. I apologize for the inconvenience. But, I am working on a Fanfic project, one I'm sure you guys will enjoy.

Well, if you like Percy Jackson. More on that next chapter.

Also, at the beginning of each Arc, I will post Stats for the last Arc. Here are the State for Road to Pillage:

Longest Chapter: Jailbreak Part 2: The Struggle of Power! 3,306 words.

Shortest Chapter: Alone! 2,232 words.

Banjo's Favorite Chapter: Enter the Hold, for the backstory.

Let's get this Arc started!

BanjoMano does not own Minecraft. Seriously, this is starting to get out of hand.

[Alex]

"Buy your armour here!"

"Need some company? Buy your pets in Chang'e's pet shelter!"

I walked down the main street, marveling the beauty of the straight-out-of-DD look of the city. People crowded at stalls, buying goods or auctioning rare materials. I saw a person auctioning a grass block, which shocked me, since I always got dirt whenever I punched the ground.

...that's a sad sentence.

I pushed past people, working my way up to a guard and waved his attention.

He turned to me. "Eh? Need directions?"

I nodded. "Uh, yeah. I need directions to Sileeno. Do you know where I could find him."

He chuckled. "How many people are going to say bullshit things today? I heard that there was a man at the gates earlier who claimed to be friends with a Crafter!"

A spark went up my spine. "Blue clothing? Lots of jewelry, came with an iron golem?"

He scowled. "Wait- how did you know that?"

"Gimero," I muttered under my breath. "Look, I'm the 14th Crafter. If you doubt it, ask me something about this new Update."

He eyed me. "I've heard reports that new structures have been popping up all around Minecraftia. Tell me what those are."

As if waiting for a chance, I spat out "Pillager outposts are semi-rare structures able to spawn in most biomes of which villages appear in. They have a rare chance to spawn within a village, due to the current Bedrock Edition state Minecraftia is currently in. I have seen tendency to enslave Villagers to create more impressive towers, as well as -"

I managed to hold my tongue, and looked around me. People had stopped to look at me, and they whispered as if I couldn't hear them.

"Is that-"

"Must be. Not even Sileeno could hide himself that well."

"I can't believe it!"

The guard stepped in front of me and yelled "She is coming with me to the Lafor Command Center. If any of you follow, you will be charged 50 emeralds. If you fail to pay, then you will be charged a week in prison. Understood?"

Not waiting for an answer, he gestured for me to follow. Naturally, I didn't want to stay in a mob of fans, so I ran after him.

[Athara]

"And that's the story." I finished. Gimero digged into his steak and potatoes, nodding furiously.

I looked down at my chicken, not having much of an appetite. I left out all the parts that mentioned me being a Greifer, replacing it with some other story. Looking at the way Gimero was feasting, however, I doubt he would have heard it.

I also left out the part about Equara. What I said to Aidan was true - That wasn't my name anymore. Gimero was lucky to have a full normal name, not some half ass name with underscores.

What kind of cruel god made it so I had to have an underscore in my name?

Gimero let out a large belch and looked around hurriedly. I laughed halfheartedly and noted "Y'know, for a coward, you are fairly brave in social situations."

He shrugged. "I guess it's part of my job, trading things and so on."

I bit off a part of the chicken and tossed the rest of it into the composting bin near the door, despite Gimero's horrified look.

The bartender, Otis_Sito sighed. "Why do you waste my cooking, lady Athara?"

I shrugged miserably. "I guess I didn't have an appetite. Now, if you'll excuse me-"

I ran out of the inn as fast as I could, not letting anyone see my face.

[Gimero]

Otis huffed. "She didn't even pay."

I took out 9 emeralds and slid it across the counter. His eyes glinted when he saw the gems.

"The meal was only 3 emeralds, sir." He reminded me with hope in his voice.

"Yeah, but I'm super rich." I told him. "Keep the extra as tip. It was... well, it was the best meal I've had ever since I've spawned."

He noticed the sarcasm in my voice and frowned. "Is that a joke?"

"No!" I mended my statement. "It was still absolutely divine. It's just - I spawned three to four days ago."

"Ah!" He chuckled. "Now I understand! Haha!"

"Yeah, uh..." I was thrown off my course, then I remembered what I was going to do. I slid five emeralds across the table and said "One room, two people. I'll pay you later for the time."

He swiped the emeralds off the counter and nodded. "I'll get Sidara up there."

"Yes, Sidara." I has no idea who Sidara was. I slid off my stook and opened the door, only to be met by a guard.

I jumped up on the spot and yelped. She raised her hand and stifled a laugh.

"I'm looking for a man known as Gimero, a Wandering Trader."

Looking at her, I realized she was the same guard I saw earlier, telling the B's guy to pay up. Remembering her temper, I nodded and replied "You're looking at him. Did I do somet-"

Her eyes darkened. "No, but we have your friend. Alex, I believe her name was?"

Despite her dark look, my hopes were raised. "Where is she?" I asked.

"She's going to the Command Center, but that's not the point. Someone told me to give you this." She handed me a book, signed only as a copy.

"Uh..." I put the book away. "Thanks, but why did you want to know whether or not I knew Alex?"

"It was the request. Give this to Gimero, friend of Alex." She answered. "Look, you're interrupting my job."

And with that, whe turned around and walked towards the inner city. I looked down at the book, which was titled 'Prepare.'I gulped and opened to the first page. A list of objectives were listed for someone to do, but I wasn't sure if I was to do them.

- Tail Rosa_Lind

- Learn Plans

- Find the Weapon within Fort Cirenar

- Defend Lafor

...

I stared at the list, trying to figure out what I should do. I waved the attention of a guard and pointed at the retreating guard.

"Hey, uh, do you know her name?" I asked him. His bushy eyebrows raised when I asked that.

"You got the hots already?"

"What?" I was taken aback. "No! It's for -" I showed him the book. He gave me a knowing smile.

"Yeah, sure. Her name is Rosa. She's one of the captains of the guards."

Rosa? Rosa_Lind? I nodded in thanks and ran after her, despite my judgement as a coward.

"Ah, Fireworks." I swore under my breath.

[Sileeno]

I paced around my quarters, wearing my white lab coat. My goggles were on my head, pushing back silver bangs.

I'm not old. Silver is just my hair colour.

In my gloved hand, I held a book, writing all the notes I could collect about the forboding message on the wall of the Command Center. Which was in the other room.

The sad thing is, despite all I could, in the two and a half days, I found absolutely nothing except theories.

Was this Entity:Eldest connected to what happened in the Greifer Wars? This was doubtful, but I put it up on a sign anyways in case.

Was the Eldest connected to the event twenty years ago, known as The Fall? This was almost a definitive no, but I couldn't discount such theories. Such is the burden of a prodigy.

Lastly... Entity 303. Were those two connected in some way? There names are similar, but they're different beings. Entity 303 wouldn't hang out in the middle of the ocean.

I was really starting to get a headache from this, which never has happened from a situation as this.

In fact, I was glad when a guard shouted "Sileeno? You have a visitor!"

"Exquisite!" I called back. "Bring this guest in!"

The door opened, and a woman walked in. She wore a light green tee, a leather belt, brown pants and black army boots. Her bright orange hair was swept over her shoulder, and she looked straight at me with piercing green eyes.

"So you're Sileeno?" She asked, shifting with her leather fingerless gauntlets. I appraised her up and down, trying to make something of her.

"That is one of my names. My proper name is Selene_Skies, but I also go by Sileeno, Selene, Sky, Sileenie-"

The woman coughed. "Sileenie?"

"I do not go by that name. Call me Sileeno." I had already aquired a dislike of this young woman. "What do you require of me? My time is precious."

She inhaled deeply. "I heard you could help me learn my powers."

Ah. Now everything made sense. "Fourteenth Crafter?" I asked, and she nodded.

I looked up at my whitewall of signs, where the clues to the Eldest connected. "What is your name?"

"...Alex." She followed my gaze to the board, then she blinked in shock.

"Eldest?" She walked up to it. "I've heard that name. The Pillagers said they're working for it."

I spun to her. "What?"

Just then, the door opened once again, and a familiar sight of a woman in red warmed my day.

"Athara!" I exclaimed. Athara waved, and walked up to us. She and Alex shared a nod, which surprised me.

"You two know each other?" I pondered. Alex shrugged and shifted impatiently. My wife looked between the two of us and sighed.

"Selene," She asked softly, which was never a good sign. "Are you going to help this young Crafter figure out her powers?"

Right. "I should get to that," I stated. "Follow me. Time to show you the new machine I've been working on."

[Gimero]

I walked casually down the main street, trying not to look too suspicious while keeping an eye on Rosa. Occasionally, she would dip into an alleyway, and emerge a bit later. Whenever that happened, I pretended to be interested in a nearby stall.

A benefit of being naturally charismatic is that I can pretend to make apples interesting.

"Picked straight from the Grove of Dodona, you say?" I asked, looking at the alleyway out of the corner of my eye.

"Indeed, good sir!" The salesman exclaimed, holding up a shiny red apple. "They're going to be the greatest you've ever eaten!"

"And where is this Grove?" I asked him, just to watch his expression fall.

"Uh... in Hala'krin!"

"You've just narrowed it to the second biggest biome in Minecraftia." I replied. I saw Rosa poke her head out of the alley, look either way, and step outside. I nodded respectfully to the merchant, who had a horrified expression, and continued to tail her.

The charade ended when she pulled out her sword and dashed into a dark passage. I looked around, knowing I couldn't just walk in. I saw a way I could clamber up to one of the roofs beside the alleyway, but looking into my inventory, I came up with a better idea.

I took out my stack of 20 ladders and began to build illegal pathways up the side of the building. I clambered to the dark oak planks roof, crouching so no one could see me. I shuffled to the side that Rosa had ducked in, and looked down.

The first thing that hit me was the height. If I fell, I was likely to become a flat trader, which is naturally the worst type of trader. I swallowed and forced myself to look down the alleyway.

Rosa was crouched behind a garbage bin, her hand on her blade. She was looking down the hallway, where three people in black robes were huddled. I inched down the roof, trying to get a listen on what they're talking about.

"...er arrival," The tall one was saying. "We've been waiting for this. Do you have the book?"

The smallest one held up a book. "Right here. When are we going to begin?" He asked in a high pitch voice. I saw Rosa take out a bow and nock an arrow, pointing at the one not yet to talk.

"The engineer is to be sent on a mission to Ki'sann. We'll launch Operation: Decode just then. Give me the book, since you idiot's can't affect it yourselves. Alex sha-"

I yelped, a short, high pitched sound. He whipped out a fishing rod and hit me with the bobber.

Oh, crab.

I was yanked off the roof, straight onto Rosa. She softened my fall, but pushed me off her in an expert way not to break her cover. I scrambled to my feet, and shakily pulled out a stone sword. It was awkward in my hand, too heavy, but I brandished it at them. The tall one scowled at me and turned to the others.

"I've heard of this one. He's the coward."

"Yep!" My voice was an octave higher then it usually was. "That's me!"

"Leave him!" The tall one lunged for the book, but I did the natural thing and threw my sword at him. It hit him in the helmet, but just then Rosa leaped out of her hiding spot with a massive steel cleaver in her hand and smashed him in the face. He promptly flew straight into the cobblestone wall of the alley.

The small one ducked between us and ran out into the streets. I attempted to grab him, but the little squirrel managed to slip between my grasp. The one who hadn't spoken whipped out a sword and shield, advancing slowly. The tall one stood up and ran at me.

I drove out of the way of his grasp, and he barreled straight into the main street, where 3 guards piled on him with weapons. Brushing off the dust from my pristine blue robes, I turned to Rosa, who had easily knocked the man unconscious.

She whirled towards me and pointed her cleaver at me.

"You... you're that Trader. Gimero." She raised it level at my neck. "What are you doing here?"

I pulled out the book she gave me. She nodded and put her weapon away. "Good answer."

I once again put it in my backpack, now confused. "So... you wanted me to follow you?"

She shrugged. "I'm one of the captains of the guards, but I also work with another organization. The Manyullyn Sword."

"...Illegal?" I asked, dreading the answer. She pondered the question, taking off her iron helmet and letting her brown hair fall down.

"Yes and no. We do illegal things occasionally, but we do it for the greater good." She looked at me with hazel eyes. "Why?"

"Oh, um..." I swallowed loudly. "I, uh, would, ah, prefer not to get involved in such, hmm, business."

"So you're the coward." She mused. My body temperature raised in embarrassment.

"No! I'm just - wait. Did you just say the coward?"

She looked over her shoulder. "How did you defeat that Griefer?"

"I didn't." I told her. "I dodged out of the way. I let the guards subdue him. As I always - well, think, cowardice is key."

"Wait - what did you just say?"

"Uh... cowardice is key?" I repeated, confused. "That has some sort of significance?"

Her eyes investigated my face. "Great. There's no way you could've heard those words before."

"Well, I haven't!" I was starting to get irritated. "Can someone tell me what's going on!"

She smirked. "Well, Gimero. Those words were spoken by the founder of our order. Solomun. He said that the person to speak those words would be essential to saving Minecraftia."

"...You're lying." I laughed a nervous laugh, which probably made it look like I was having a nervous breakdown. Well? I was pretty much on the brink of one.

"Well, before I take you to Castle Cirenar to get the Weapon, I should introduce you to the rest of the Sword."

"And, uh, what is this 'Weapon'? A sword?"

She sighed. "No one exactly knows what this weapon is. It's supposedly a discarded pattern of the Tinker's. Rumors say it's the last of it's kind, and it has infinite durability. But then again, most Tinker's weapons have infinite durability."

"...right." I swallowed my anxiety. "Let's get to it. Well, you're hopefully going to do-"

"Oh, no." Her smirk turned into a maniacal grin. "He said that the coward must get the weapon himself."

...

FIDDLESTICKS!

BanjoNote: I make Gimero go through the worst situations. I'm a bad Author, and I'll never have kids.

Anyways, this is one of the shorter chapters of the Broken Arc, and It's already the chapter with the second most words! I'm already having do much fun with this Arc.

Whereas last Arc focused on Alex and Gimero as the main characters, I'm going to lean in on making Alex the main character of this Arc. The first two to three chapters will focus on the Manyullyn Sword and Gimero, but then we're doing a hard right straight to Alex.

Man, this arc is so great.

Next Chapter: The Manyullyn Sword! Until then, Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! And, as always, Banjo-on!