AN: And we're back. With Riddles!
Some of you long-time readers may remember this, but for you newtimers, I'll explain how to Weekly Riddlez work. I give a riddle in the top Author's Note, and the first to answer it correctly in a review gets a Victory Cookie (::) as well as acknowledgement in the next Chapter. If you get it wrong or answer too late, you get a Negative Cracker [::].
So, without further ado, let's start Part V, which promises to be one of the darkest parts of the story. Don't say I didn't warn you!
Puzzle: A Hacker was slain. The Fisherman claims the Axe-Wielder is guilty. The Axe-Wielder says the Parkourist did it. The Nerd swears he didn't kill the Hacker. The Shield-Bearer says the Axe-Wielder is lying. If only one of these speaks the truth, who killed the Hacker?
Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. Bwuh.
*==Part V==*
Having escaped the Angel of Death by the skin of their fishing rods, the Beginners should feel elated. Thankful, even! But things are anything but calm. The Angel follows them like a shadow, the Endward Cult looms closer still, and Cobb finds himself uncovering secrets best left buried. Now, with his World in more jeopardy than ever before, Cobb has to rise to the challenge or else watch his nightmares become realized.
Chapter 131
Thanatophobia
[Cobb]
When I came to, the first thing I registered was the soft mattress against my back and the warm blankets bundled up to my chin. My eyes were shut, but I could tell by the light filtering in that someone had left the lights on, and that if I cracked an eye open, all I would get is blinding light that would make my eyes water.
I automatically reached out and pulled the covers over my face, only for something to pull them back down.
"Wake up, Cobb." Came a voice as soft as my mattress. Feminine and familiar. "Wake up, sleepyhead."
I shifted so that my face was pressed into the pillow. The smothering darkness was a blessing for my eyes. However the voice was unrelenting, standing over me and rocking my body back and forth.
"Rise and shine. I want to show you something."
"Nnnn…" I grumbled, my arm waving half-heartedly to stave off the voice. "Five more minutes…"
There was an exasperated chuckle. "Come on. Just for a little bit. Then you can rest."
I let out a sigh of defeat, realizing that compliance was the quickest way to return to slumber-land. Propping myself up, I turned in bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
"Alright, I'm up, I'm up. What's…?" My eyes blinked twice to focus on the woman at the foot of my bed.
I nearly choked, recoiling in fear.
Carys grinned darkly back at me, her diamond scythe balanced on one shoulder.
"You overslept." She hitched a thumb over her shoulder towards a line of fence posts. "You missed your friends' demise."
The words had my heart hammering like a drum only for it to stop when I laid my eyes upon those posts.
Floyd. Lenz. Soul. Jade.
Their disembodied Heads stared back at me from atop those posts, devoid of emotion or thought. Dead, unfocused eyes. Empty. Gone.
"N-No…" I shook in place, clutching at my head, clawing at skin and desperately wishing it wasn't true. The whole World started breaking apart before my eyes and tears leaked from my face. My mouth was open in an anguished scream, but my throat must've been raw because no sound came out. Just a violent, strangled noise like a dying animal.
I fell out of the bed and onto the floor, the tears staining near my hands. Then the pair of purple boots clicked into view.
I wrenched my head up and saw Carys with her scythe drawn, ready to swing. She smiled cruelly back at me.
"That's all I wanted. You can rest now."
And then the scythe reaped what was sown.
"AAAAAUUUUUGH!"
I bolted out of the bed, kicking the covers and tangling my legs up in the process. But even slamming down face-first into the floor couldn't stop me arming myself and lashing at anything and everything nearby.
Only I was alone.
"Floyd!" I suddenly shouted, fear gripping me as I flung myself at the door. My forehead was slick with sweat and my body felt sore all over, but I hauled myself out into the corridor, not entirely sure where I was.
"Jade! Lenz! Soul!" I listed off the names, stumbling dazedly into the walls. There was a muffled sound from up ahead, but it didn't calm me down. "ANYONE!"
Was this just another nightmare? What was going on? What was real? Where was everyone!?
My shin bumped against a solid edge and I fell to the floor. My watering eyes had nothing to do with the physical pain.
"I can't… please…" I sobbed. "I can't… she couldn't of… she couldn't of…"
Curled up and sobbing into the floorboards. That was how Jade found me.
"Cobb!" She knelt down beside me, her hands feverishly checking me over. "What's wrong? What happened?"
My heaving sobs slowed down as I focused on Jade's voice and her amethyst eyes. "Jade… you're okay…?"
"Yes. Yes, I'm okay. Everyone's okay. We're miles up in the air and we left the Angel of Death in the dust." Her soft hands caught my shoulders and pushed me upright. Her face cracked seeing the state of me. She pulled out a piece of paper—her Ringwood Entry Pass—and used it to wipe my face. "Let's get you all cleaned up."
"I-I saw…" I sniffled, as she gingerly dabbed at my face. "I saw your Heads and I-I couldn't…" My head slumped. "I thought everyone was… a-and Carys h-had—"
"It's okay." She pulled me close, hugging my face into her chest. "It was just a dream. A nightmare. Carys didn't get any of us."
True to her word, I heard three sets of footsteps coming down the corridor. I caught a flash of sky-blue hair before Jade shielded me with her body.
"We heard shouting. What happened?" Floyd said.
"Just a bad dream." Jade assured, keeping the others from seeing me at my worst. "Cobb was just worried about us. I'll take him back to bed and explain what's going on."
"Do you need help carrying him…?" The suited one—Noman—offered, only for Soul to stop him. The axe-wielder was looking right at me, a serious expression on his face as he noticed the tear stains.
"Let's give them some privacy." He insisted, turning Noman and Floyd back towards the bridge. He glanced one last time over his shoulder before escorting them back. It wasn't often that Soul showed tact, which really hammered home how awful I must've looked.
Without another word, I clung to Jade and allowed her to guide me back to that bedroom. Though shaken by my nightmare, the guaranteed safety of my friends was putting my mind at ease.
Still, I felt burdened by that one, terrible inescapability.
[Floyd]
"And that's the gist of it." I finished, looking to the three Crafters before me.
Noman. An unknown with a shield and enchanted flying boots. Vouched for by Soul, the man had carried his weight and more in the fight against the Paragons. If not for him and Soul, the night would have played out for the worse. He sat against the wall, wearing a troubled expression after my explanation of why Carys was chasing us.
Lenz was at the airship controls, whistling to himself. Someone more oblivious would accuse him of not taking the information seriously, but I knew he committed every word to memory. The whistling was equal parts happiness over the newly acquired/stolen airship and a precaution to keep himself awake. We had been flying for a full day, and Lenz was the only one who could pilot the darn thing. He must have been exhausted, but he knew the best course of action was to put as much distance between us and Zeppil as possible. Even high up in the clouds, floating along, we were far from safe.
And Soul? He was brooding with folded arms by the door. After hearing my story, he shook his head in disbelief.
"All this for a fucking pig?"
"Language!" Noman interjected.
"Mr. Piggles was her steed." I repeated. "Her trusty steed—"
"I don't care how trusty her steed was, why would the Angel of Death—the biggest badass in Minecraftia—resort to a pig for transport? It makes no sense!"
"Language. And she must've had a great attachment to that animal." Noman supplied somberly before burying his face in his hands. "Oh, Notch. I left Beetroot at the stable. That was Bailey's horse."
"No chance of going back for it. Not unless you want a face full of scythe." Soul threw his hands up. "Tch. I finally meet my hero and she's trying to kill us. Out of all the strips of bacon Cobb could've eaten, it had to be off of that woman's steed."
"The grim misfortune of the situation is not lost on any of us." Lenz threw out unenthusiastically.
"What I don't get," I began, "is how they knew so much about Lenz and I, but knew next to nothing about Soul. Noman I get, since he only just helped us out."
"Yeah, I get what you mean." Soul considered. "One of them even said I shouldn't have been there. Like they were only expecting you two."
"Tracking us through Jolin, perhaps?" Lenz suggested. "Soul was the only one not apprehended. And they were surprised by Jade's skill with a cutlass. They were acting on inadequate information for sure."
"Maybe…" Soul frowned, his mind obviously elsewhere. "No point in underselling it. Noman saved the day. What with his enchanted boots and aikido."
"I-It was nothing." Noman hastily dismissed his praise.
"It wasn't nothing. It saved our lives. And Cobb should know about it." Soul turned to me. "We should all let him know how much good Noman did. He saved a lot of lives. Cobb can't ignore that."
Soul was strangely fixated on giving Noman his due credit. The suited man didn't look nearly as eager. If anything, the praise was pressing down on him like an unwanted burden.
"We'll talk with Cobb later. He's still recovering from that fight with Carys."
"Of course. Of course." Soul hastily nodded. "Let him rest. Truth be told, with how angry Carys is, I'm shocked that that idiot still has a head on his shoulders. She isn't just some run-of-the-mill baddie of the week. The Angel of Death may as well just be that: An Angel of Death."
"Not making us feel any better. We thought she was dead." I groused. "She fell into lava and this was back when we were still fresh to the ways of Minecraftia. How were we supposed to know she'd return and align a couple of Kingdoms against us?"
"That woman and her Paragons. They should be fighting cultists, not satisfying personal vendettas." Noman sounded appalled. "Wasting her resources like this... what is she thinking?"
"Probably something along the lines of Insert Scythe A between Fisherman Butt-Cheeks B."
"Lovely." Noman spoke flatly before sighing. "I hope we never cross that woman again."
"'Never' might be sooner than you think." Lenz quipped. "If I am right, things are about to get worse."
"Worse? What, is the leader of the Hack Clan and the Endward Cult Executives coming after our idiot fisherman too?" Noman flinched at those words, but it went unnoticed by the others.
"No. Soul, I need you to check the engine room." Lenz commanded, stifling a yawn. "Find your way to the stern of the ship. The engine Command Blocks should be there."
"The stern… right…" He clapped his hands, balancing on the balls of his feet. "That. Would. Be…?"
"Stern is the back—"
"The back! I know! Got it." Soul was out of the room before any of us could call him out.
"What's the problem?" Noman asked, looking over Lenz's shoulders.
Lenz wiped the sleep out of his eyes before flicking a few levers and taking a sharp turn towards some extreme hills to the east. He tapped a finger against the control panel, gazing worriedly out the window.
"Low fuel."
[Cobb]
Jade helped me back into bed, and we sat in silence for a little bit. I was content just to look at her face. Her bright amethyst eyes full of emotion that could only ever be extinguished by a scythe to the neck.
I tried to forget about the scythe, focus more on the woman in front of me.
We sat in silence for a good ten minutes, the smooth sailing of the airship keeping me calm. I looked out the bedroom window, watching puffy clouds drift by. We were incredibly high up, though. Walking to Zeppil, the extreme hills of the region had always been a time-consuming obstacle to walk over, around, or through. But now we could simply fly over them all.
Airships were truly the only way to travel.
And Carys would need an ender pearl just to—
The ship took a sudden turn west, shaking me to speak.
"What's with all the turns?" Straight lines were the fastest path away. Didn't we want o be fast? Didn't we want to get far away?
"Our course is to Akasha." Jade explained. "I'm not too eager about the place, but Floyd and Soul said they have a Silver Intent mission to fulfill. Cultists are being arrested left and right and they want to get to the bottom of it."
"But… why are we taking so many turns?"
"Lenz wanted to be cautious." She explained. "If Carys is following us, she'll be able to glean our destination by where we're heading. The roundabout route is longer, but it lowers the chance of her predicting where we'll go."
So the others had thought things through. That was a relief, since waking up to the Paragons on board was my worst nightmare all over again. Suddenly, the turns weren't turning my stomach as much. Every one was counted as a cautious step away from that monster.
"Floyd mentioned how you got on her bad side." Jade began. "And, I have to say, I never would have considered killing her pet pig as a noteworthy offense." She chuckled. "I mean, here's a woman who—"
Jade stopped immediately, her eyes tilting down to where my hands rested against the covers. Only they weren't resting. They were fisting the blankets so tightly I was threatening to shred them.
"Hey! Let's talk about something else!" Jade laughed off, her eyes scanning for a topic change. "Your parkour is getting better. A few more lessons and you might be almost as good as me. Hahaha."
The laughter was as hollow as my spirit.
Jade realized it too, and was quick to think of something else. "We took the liberty of touring the airship while you were out of it. The Asmodeus has a lot of spare bedrooms. There's the bridge, a kitchen, the engine room, the loading bay you saw, an enchanting and brewing room—we can beef up your gear if you feel up to it—a training room—great for parkour and sword-fighting. I tell you, this airship was a steal!" She winked at the joke.
"Except it wasn't. There was a cost." I reached in my belt and pulled out the black skeleton mask I had taken off of Carys. A Wither Skeleton Skull. I had never seen the Mob before—I didn't even know where to find them—but it looked similar to a Skeleton. I looked into its empty eyes. "We took her ship, but Carys nabbed the shovel. The gold Silk Touch shovel." I rested my head against the skull. "No way to get more emeralds."
Even with the insane amount of emeralds we had stored, that shovel had been our reliable source of income. More than that, it had been a gift from Cosmic for our efforts saving Halstatt. And Carys had claimed it for herself. I had no doubt the she-devil would be putting it to use funding her campaign against us. She wouldn't use a single emerald of her own coffers. Not until first mining grass blocks and wringing out every possible emerald she could.
It was petty, penny-pinching, and selfish.
And it was what I would have done.
Maybe I could pay her back by taking a dump in her airship. Or changing the sails to spell out 'Carys sucks ballz' with a 'Z'.
Provided she never caught up with us to see it.
"Well," Jade rested a hand on my back, "we'll just have to find another way to get emeralds. Like working for a living. Worse comes to worse, we can always turn over Floyd for the bounty money." I whirled on her, scowling. "Kidding! Kidding, sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood." She rested a hand on my shoulder. "Just because you lost to Carys doesn't mean you should keep worrying about her. She's way back in Zeppil, we have her airship, we're in the clear."
Slowly, I turned to look at her, my eyes tired and worried.
"You really think she's done with us?"
She leaned back, the full weight of my words hitting her.
"Carys won't quit." I said matter-of-factly. "I know because I fought her first-hand. Over and over. Nothing can stop her or slow her down." I stared back at the Wither Skeleton Head. "The only thing to do is—"
Suddenly, the airship ground to a halt. Jade and I shifted slightly in the bed, but not enough to knock us over.
"—keep moving." I suddenly said, alarmed, before I kicked off the covers and moved to the bedroom doors. Jade tried to help me, but I pushed her away, leaning instead on the corridors as I made my way to the bridge.
I burst through the doors, my eyes scanning the bridge for signs that something was wrong. From the window, I saw we were docked beside a large extreme hill, the peak of which crested above the clouds. Why was Lenz not working the controls? Why were Floyd and Soul just standing around?
"We stopped." I said loudly, calling them to attention. "We stopped. Why did we stop? What's going on? What's wrong?"
"We are low on fuel and I am low on sleep." Lenz answered, lifting his tinted glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The Paragons neglected to restock their coal reserves before we appropriated the Asmodeus. We need to do it ourselves or else risk stalling later down the line."
"What do you mean this thing needs coal? I thought it was self-sustaining!"
"Do not be absurd, Cobbert." Lenz snapped. "Having a self-sustaining airship would ruin the economy if it was not offset by its fuel cost. The Command Blocks for these machinations were programmed to extract coal in order to operate. Without coal, the Asmodeus cannot fly."
"So are we low on fuel, or completely empty?" I asked.
"I just checked." Soul said. "We're low—"
"Then we keep flying, for as long as we can and as far as we can." I cut him off. "We can worry about mining coal AFTER we go as far as we can."
"Cobbert, listen to me." Lenz began. "It is better to have a safe docking location for us to haul coal on board. What will we do if we stall out in the middle of the air? Resort to ender pearls? We need those!"
"How much coal do we even need?" I hastily undid my belt and pulled out a shaky handful of the black rock. "I bet you we have a stack between us. Let's just use that and keep moving." Lenz looked on sadly. "Well, why not? Why not?"
"Coal blocks." Lenz clarified.
"…What?"
"It runs on coal blocks. Nine lumps of coal to a block and we need a minimum of sixty-four blocks to reach Akasha. A stack of coal would barely be seven blocks. We need more than what we can pool together. We have to mine it."
My hands shook, cradling the coal that was useless to us. Some lumps got out of hand, clattering onto the floor.
"Well, maybe if we flew in a straight line, we would have made it to Akasha by now."
Lenz recoiled as if struck. "Excuse you! I have been piloting this glorious airship all day and night, ensuring Carys would not discern our destination. This is what the guild agreed on."
"You've killed us is what you've done! We go mining down there, we'll be sitting ducks for when Carys catches up!" I shouted back. "We need to keep moving."
"I already told you! We keep moving, we risk stalling out!"
"We need to go!"
"We need fuel!"
"Who's the leader here!? Me!"
"And I am the Skipper piloting this thing! Do you want to try flying?"
"If it gets us further from her—!"
"Stop!"
My vision was full of fine suit as Noman interposed himself between us before we could come to blows.
"You two are guild-mates, aren't you?" He started. "All this arguing gets us nowhere. If Carys really is pursuing us, we're doing her a favor."
That statement made me come to my senses. He was right. Carys was coming. I could feel it. And here we were arguing and buying her more time to close the gap.
"I… I don't…" I clenched my fists, turning to the concerned faces of my guild. They were looking to me for support, and here I was making a scene. What the hell was wrong with me?
Heart: Take a breath.
Brain: Count to ten.
I closed my eyes and did as my internal organs said. My arms slackened and I turned back to Lenz with a clearer head.
"Sorry. You're the Skipper." I nodded. He knew better than the rest of us. And I could see the bags under his eyes. He needed a breather just as much as I did. "Get… get some rest. A quick nap and food. Does this flying boat have showers?"
"It does." Lenz fixed his glasses.
"Then take one of those too. Someone else needs to stay as a lookout." I thought fast. Noman already had his hand up to volunteer. I was still reluctant about having the Billionth on board, but we didn't have a choice. "The rest of you. Grab a pick, and be quick. We need as much coal as we can get.
"Five-hundred-and-seventy-six coal to be precise."
I closed my eyes and let out an irritated hiss. Never had a number seemed so impossibly large.
By sheer luck, Noman had a linked map to signal to us. Apparently the Paragons had made a duplicate to track Soul, only for Noman to nab it when they defeated them. Since there was no white blip coming from Zeppil I knew the Paragons couldn't have made another duplicate. They had no way to track us. If so, we all would have burned our maps or stashed them in an ender chest.
I gnawed on some rotten flesh as we disembarked, the rancid flavor and rough texture reflecting my mood perfectly. I was anxious, wanting to get this mining done as quickly as possible.
After touching down on the smooth grass of the hill, we split into pairs. Floyd and Jade. Soul and I. The axe-wielder arranged his sticks and ingots into an iron pickaxe and I was ready to go.
It had been a while since I had to mine anything. It was almost foreign to me. Luckily, Soul had experience with mining and took the lead. We had to bust through the dirt layer and dig around the useless andesite and diorite to find the valuable ores. Gravel was a nightmare as it kept falling on us, but a quickly placed torch took care of that nicely. A trick Soul picked up. We avoided the gravel and lesser rock, but kept an eye out for flints, knowing they would be useful to make arrows for our archer.
Coal was usually clustered in large veins, so finding some deposits was as simple as tracing the ores. The problem, however, was the insane amount we need. Over five-hundred, just to make it to Akasha. The way Lenz had pined over them, I figured they would be self-sustaining. But nope! They needed coal! And the Paragons had been too lazy to do it themselves so they had to have the thieves do it for them. Car out of gas and you don't want to fill it up? Just get some thieves to steal it and they'll gas it for you! What a brilliant scam!
Then she'll kill us and get a fully-fueled airship free of charge!
"…obb."
The pickaxe struck down harder and harder, cracking the stone and extracting everything useful. And even then, that lump of coal was just a small drop in a large bucket that needed to be filled.
"Cobb."
I wiped the sweat from my forehead as I swung faster and faster, my mind thinking on how far we had flown. Could Noman even be trusted up above to give the signal? What if Carys got to him first and silenced him? What if her Paragons were surrounding us while we were acting like a couple of dwarves?
What if Lenz was…?
"Cobb!"
I had the iron pick suspended in the air, sweat dripping down my face and staining my tunic. Soul was leaning on his tool, looking at me annoyed.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"…No." I panted, getting back to my swinging. The dull clink-clink-clink of the pick drowning out the axe-wielder.
"I was saying," he raised his voice, "that Noman really settled that dispute up there."
"Yeah." I nodded back absently, my thoughts more concerned with getting the coal to stay ahead of Carys.
"And he's also helping out by keeping watch."
"Yeah."
"And we only made it out of Zeppil thanks to him."
"Yeah."
Soul waited, hoping for me to catch on to what he was alluding to.
"Yeah."
He scowled. "He held his own against—"
"Yeah."
"So," Soul soldiered on. "Don't you think it would be a good idea to recruit him? He's a Beginner in everything, but name."
I kept hammering away at the rock, heedless of the sore muscles and the mind-numbing exhaustion.
"Well?" Soul snapped. "Say something!"
I wiped a sleeve across my forehead and gave the axe-wielder a shoulder glance. "Can we just worry about this coal right now? Please?"
"Tch. Sure." Soul lumbered over to the other side of our makeshift tunnel and dug harshly into the ceiling. "Keep putting it off, and eventually I'll forget about it. Is that what you think will happen?" The pick bounced off a particularly dense chunk of rock, clattering out of my numb hands. Soul paid the noise no mind. "We only survived because we had allies the enemy didn't know about. I was right all along. We only stand to gain by having Noman join our ranks—by having more people join the Beginners—so why are you being so stubborn about letting him join—?"
I swung out and kicked the solid chunk of coal ore with an ironclad foot. Soul went silent. Over and over, my foot stamped onto the ore, the bones of my leg screaming in protest as the rock refused to budge. Every impact was jarring, and yet still I kicked at the ore, my face red, sweat pouring down my face and spittle flying. I growled and hissed like an animal, taking out all my frustrations on the thing delaying us from moving the fuck on!
Finally, the chunk of coal ore shattered and I was left with one good leg to stand on. The other throbbing and ruined. I panted out in shallow breaths before slowly limping around to look at the axe-wielder.
"Soul." I began lowly. "I don't care about Noman, right now. I don't care about the recruitment pitch, I don't care about swelling our ranks with more people who'll probably end up dead within a week concerning all the shit we have to put up with. I care about Carys, the bitch-psycho strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Hackers and influential enough to control Kingdoms who has made it her mission to hunt down and murder everything I care about! You want me to bring in more people now? To befriend more people only to know I've marked them for death? Is that really what we need to concern ourselves with when we know Carys is on our heels and is mad as hell? Is it? Because right now, all I care about is getting enough of this black rock to get us as far the hell away from that monster as I can! That is the important problem!"
Soul stood there, his mouth agape after the lashing I had given him. He nodded slowly, at a loss for what to say. Finally he settled on, "I see what you're saying. Noman can wait."
I stared him down for a good few seconds more before limping back around, picking up my pickaxe, and getting back to digging. The movements made my ruined leg throb painfully. I tore into some rotten flesh, feeling sick. Whether it was from the pain, the food, or the crippling anxiety I had no idea.
"You're not alone in this."
I paused in my mining. Even though Soul was putting his back into working, he could still spare a few words.
"We're a guild. That means we tackle our problems as a team. Share the burden." He nodded. "She fights one Beginner she fights them all."
"…That's what I'm afraid of."
We continued mining for a few more minutes while periodically checking our maps.
Thanks to that, we were ready when Noman's white blip began to blink on and off. The signal.
We bundled up all the coal we gathered and dumped the useless rocks and gravel before promptly exiting the self-made mine. We didn't get much. Fourteen coal blocks between us. I expected Floyd and Jade got less. We weren't even halfway to sixty-four.
We scrambled to the plank and into the loading bay, where Lenz was leaning out and looking far off towards the horizon. His goggles were on for long-distance sight.
"It's her, isn't it." I stated more than asked.
Lenz returned it with a grim nod. "She is on horseback, but it is moving far faster than any horse I have seen."
"She's probably doping it with Swiftness Potions." Floyd suspected. "Load up the coal. Let's go."
"This is not enough to get us—"
"We'll find another mine. But only if we live to see it!"
Lenz conceded the point and instructed us to craft the coal into blocks and load it into the chest in the engine room. The hoppers would distribute the coal into the furnaces and the Command Blocks would automatically deplete the coal after a set amount of mileage.
The four of us were a whirl of motion as we pooled every ounce of coal together to make the blocks. Combined we had twenty-six blocks and three coal left over. It would have to do.
Better cook meat with sticks from now on.
The chest in the engine room really was low. It only had two blocks of coal left before we added what we mined. Once that was done, the four of us raced back to the bridge. The Asmodeus was back in flight before we got there.
Lenz looked a little fresher for his power nap, and after all the coal mining a queue was forming for the shower. I let the guild fight over it, instead choosing to climb down the ladder into the loading bay and staring out the bay doors.
I saw it.
The speck on the horizon.
That was Carys. Spurring her horse past the point of exhaustion and hitting it with Potions of Swiftness to keep us in sight. She must have ridden through the night. And after all the fighting of the day previously there was no way she couldn't be tired.
I stood a little taller, wishing I had Lenz's sight so I could search for signs of exhaustion. This might be the best chance to fight her. She was mortal after all.
…Right?
She was only a speck right now. And yet I could almost feel the burning anger directed at me. It was like a withering fire, scorching all it touched.
Suddenly I wanted to hide someplace where I wouldn't have to glimpse that pursuing speck.
[Floyd]
"We have to fight her." Jade suddenly said, much to everyone's surprise. It was nighttime and Lenz had reported that Carys was still following them. He was currently trying to teach anyone who would listen how to fly in a straight line so he could get more rest. Flying in shifts would become necessary if things continued.
Which led to the current argument.
"The Asmodeus is faster, but she must know we're low on fuel. She wouldn't be this persistent otherwise." Jade reasoned.
"So what are you suggesting?" Lenz asked.
"We land the ship, arm ourselves, and face her." Jade glanced around the room, noticing the hesitant faces. "Think about it! She's been awake for two-and-a-half-days and she's coming off the fight on Cloud Castle. What little damage we did has to be stockpiling."
"A battle of attrition is sensible." Lenz agreed. "But do we know her limits? She is a Hacker Slayer just like Cobbert, and a significant threat to the Endward Cult. What if she has yet to hit her second wind? Or her third? Or fourth for that matter?"
"She's a bundle of stamina." Cobb added. "I fought her. Nothing I did kept her down."
"Even so, if we all fight her together—"
"Perhaps there's another way."
We all turned to Noman as he tentatively raised his hand.
"Perhaps Carys_Angel is only persisting because we stole her airship. I'm sure that if we return it and apologize, she will forgive us."
"Yeah! And then we can lob off our own Heads and gift-wrap them for her!" Cobb said with the same tone and energy Noman used, earning a chuckle from Jade and Soul.
"Do not even joke about that." Lenz growled, clutching the controls like his first-born child. "This airship is mine and I refuse to give it up."
"Riding this ship is the only thing keeping us afloat." I said. "No point debating a fight when we don't even have to."
"But we will have to." Jade insisted. "Once the fuel runs out it's sink or swim. We can't get to Akasha with our reserves. We'll have to make another stop. And that'll be when Carys catches up to us."
"Lenz, aren't you a redstone whiz?" Soul asked. "Can't you—I don't know—rewire the redstone so that we can power the engines with something more readily available? Like sarcasm?"
"Dry, dry sarcasm." I added.
"While I would love nothing more than to experiment with Command Block codes—a redstone engineer's playground—I am afraid it is not so simple. Coding is intrinsically complex. Even one misplaced letter or bracket can wreck the whole mechanism. I would have to copy the code character for character in a separate book, and then scrutinize it for the part which converts coal blocks into redstone power. Then I would have to carefully edit it and check to see if the mechanism operates the same way."
"And how long would that take?"
"Optimistically? A week." Everyone groaned in unison. "But that is the point! I cannot stress the complexity of Command Block codes! Redstone engineers have been analyzing them for centuries, following in the footsteps of great men like Jeb and Dinnerbone. Without a proper Codex, it is trial-and-error."
"What's a Codex?"
"It is a book—or a collection of books—full of documented commands that have been researched and proven to work. Zeppil has a whole team dedicated to studying aviation commands that get structures to move on their own or convert resources into energy. They have their own Codex. And so do the people at Potato Tech in Daymonte."
"So we're back to square one." Jade sighed. "Fighting Carys may be our only option once our fuel runs out."
"For now, we keep moving." Cobb spoke loudly with no room for argument. "We don't stop to face her. We don't take the risk. We keep going. That's all."
Soul and Lenz nodded, accepting the plan for what it was. Jade didn't seem convinced, but she saw she was outvoted here. Noman didn't look like he wanted to fight at all. If anything, he looked more and more uncomfortable in this group. Like he was an outsider afraid to stand out.
If things weren't so hectic with the Angel of Death at our heels, the environment might've been more relaxed. More sociable. But we didn't have that luxury. We couldn't slow down.
Like Cobb said, we had to keep moving.
[Cobb]
I was sluggish getting back to my room. At least, I thought it was my room. It was the farthest down the corridor, just shy of the door to the engine room, but peeking into the other rooms revealed that it was also the largest of the bedrooms.
It was the first time I'd bothered to get a good look at it. Twin beds. Luxurious carpet. Private bathroom. Enchanting Table. Bookshelves. Brewing Stands. Couple of Chests. A wall full of Crafter Heads—
Brain: How'd we miss that the first few times?
There was also a wanted poster beside the Heads with a few arrows sticking out of it. My over-exaggerated stupid face stared back at me.
I raised an eyebrow at that before glancing to the far corner of the room, right by the window. Another thing I hadn't noticed. A gated pen with a floor of grass. A chest stood beside it. If I cared to check, it was probably full of carrots.
And then there was the picture of a pig hanging over the bed.
I dragged a hand over my face, groaning to myself as I fell back against the bed. My arm shielded my eyes from the harsh lights. They were weak and weary, yet I didn't dare shut them. Not with the nightmares plaguing me.
Carys. Carys. Carys.
The woman was on my mind in the worse possible way. And I had never felt this before in the worst possible way.
"What do I do…?"
"Well, usually you shut the lights off, then you go to sleep."
I didn't bother to look as I heard Jade let herself in. "Ever heard of knocking?"
"Maybe if you bothered to shut the door." She cleverly countered.
I sighed. "Sorry. Not too eager to fall asleep. Not when I have no idea what I'll wake up to."
"Lenz, Floyd, and I are working in shifts." She explained, walking over to sit beside me on the bed. "Lenz is so exhausted he's relented, letting us pilot so he can get some rest. At this height, all we need to do is fly straight. Pretty straightforward. Less chance of us crashing. And unless Carys has angel wings, there's no way she'll catch us."
Easy for her to say. She didn't see any of my nightmares.
"But I get why you can't sleep. You want to switch rooms? After all, this one—"
"I know this is Carys' room."
Jade faltered. "How did you—?"
In answer, I pointed to my wanted poster with the arrows sticking out of it as well as the pig pen in the corner.
"Ah, right." Jade scratched her head awkwardly. "We didn't mean to give you her room. It was just the biggest, so we figured you'd want to stay… here…"
Jade trailed off as I sat up and got out of the bed, wandering over to my poster. The very image Carys had issued all over Minecraftia in an effort to entrap me. I reached up with two fingers and peeled it off the wall, item frame and arrows falling away.
She made me worth a thousand emeralds, all for killing her pet pig. It sounded like a joke. An unfortunate, completely horrible joke. A part of me wondered if my bounty would skyrocket now that I'd stolen her airship. Would she also print posters for the others? Lenz, Soul, Jade. Oh, and Noman.
I tossed the poster aside and looked to the Crafter Heads covering the wall. Blank eyes stared back at me. The Angel of Death's victims, most likely.
"You know any of these guys?" I asked, my voice catching slightly. Jade came up beside me to look.
"Not many. This one here," she pointed to a face on the far left, "that's Amalgum13. He was a Captain of Lazuli." Dread pooled in my gut at his title. "And… I think this one was GardenWalker's Lieutenant," she added, pointing to one near a gap. "I assume that's where she pulled Garden's."
More powerful people, then. There were also two Heads with dark lines stretched over their eyes. The two Hackers Carys silenced in Nitebane. That she was still alive after facing them was a testament of her skill. How could I even compare, having only killed one Hacker through blind luck.
"If you want to be alone, I can just go." Jade snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts. "I just thought you didn't want to be alone."
"Being alone…" I rolled it over in my head for a bit. "That's both what I want, and what I don't want." I slowly turned, my hand trailing against the wall of Carys' fallen foes. Would I be joining them after she was done extracting as much suffering out of me as she could?
"What do you mean?"
"If… if I was alone…" I started, my voice catching again, "if I was alone, she'd have nothing to hurt me with. The worse she could do is kill me, right?" I smiled sadly, turning to see Jade's pained expression. "But she won't stop. I know she won't. She knows what I'm afraid of. She knows what would kill me. She knows. And she'll keep coming until she's taken my World and broken it so bad I won't know how to-to-to…"
I ran a hand through my hair as the words and tears and fear came freely, and I was unable to hold them back any longer.
"And it's my fault. It's all my fault!" I broke down, crying. "It's because I killed her pig that's she's doing this. She only wants to kill you all to make me suffer! And I can't think of any way to stop her! She's too strong! Stronger than all of us! All I can think to do is run, and that's only because… because I'm terrified of who she'll take when she gets here!"
Yes, I admitted it. I was afraid of Carys_Angel. After getting beaten by her over and over—my attempts at killing her thwarted as if I was a child—and realizing how much she had been holding back, she was one monster I knew I couldn't slay.
And if the Beginners all grouped up to fight her… we'd just be a bigger target.
"Cobb, you can't think like that." Jade said firmly. "You can't. Carys wants you to think you're powerless, but you're not. Think of all you've accomplished. All the enemies you've—"
"Yes, all the enemies I've faced." I said quietly. "Hackers. Griefers. Cultists. Berserkers. Captains. All of them beaten before I had a chance to worry, a chance to fear what they could do to the others." I shook my head frantically. "Carys blows all of them out of the water. She's an enemy hunting for me. She knows my weakness, and she's strong enough to make it real."
I grabbed my head, the images of my friends on pikes forever burned in my brain. It was unbearable. I felt trapped. And all the while, tears continued to leak.
"All this t-trouble b-because of me." I sobbed, my voice small and feeble. "Makes me wonder if-if it w-wouldn't be better just to save her the trouble and—"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Jade surged forward, gripping my shoulders.
"Why not? It'll get her off your backs." I replied faintly. "Take away what sick vengeance she'd feel if I'm not alive to see it. Just throw my Head off the side for her to snap up like the gator she—"
I blinked away tears as some foreign texture graced me with its touch. A comforting warmth. A gentle softness—at least at first—before it picked up in intensity. The sensation overloaded all thoughts of Carys. Burned them straight out of my head.
Going off of memory, I could barely place the order of events for what had just happened. It felt unreal. And incredible. So very incredible.
I tried to commit the memory to mind, wanting to know exactly how I could come to feel such bliss, even as a pair of arms encircled me, hugging me close and deepening the connection.
There was the talk. Then the tears. And then, before I even had time to think, Jade had moved…
Ensnared me with her arms…
And kissed me.
Jade kissed me.
Kissed me with equal parts desperation and affection to stop my self-deprecating talk. Like an electric current it shocked the despair right out of me, leaving a pleasant warmth that suffused me from head to toe.
And the way her arms wrapped around me. Thin, yet powerful from her parkour mastery. They pulled me in tighter, and I found my arms reciprocating. As desperate to hold her as she was with me. Pressed up against her, I felt my fears melt away. And I wanted more.
Who would have known that a kiss could feel like this? Heat slowly built in my face, chasing away the cool wetness of the tears like the sun chases away the shadows. Suddenly, it didn't matter that Carys was at our heels. Her and her grudge felt meaningless now, and the only woman on my mind was the green-haired one locking lips with me.
Sooner than I wanted, she broke away with a gasp. Oh, right. Oxygen. I panted heavily, mixed up as to which was more necessary: Breathing or Kissing.
"Feel… better…?" Jade panted out, her eyes lidded and her face as red as mine. It probably wasn't her first kiss—she had been married, after all—but it sure as hell was mine. I needed to sound confident, though. Show her how much it felt for me.
"Bwuh…" I answered eloquently.
"Okay, a bit more then." She jumped back in without another word, her eyes closed and mine wide before they too slid shut. Closing my eyes made the sensations all the more acute. With our chests pressed against one another, I could feel her quickening heartbeat beside my own. I could taste her lips and smell the faint scent of apples in her lush, green hair. She pressed upon me with such want and such urgency that the two of us were sent tumbling backwards onto the twin beds.
Something was coming over me. I didn't know what, only that it distanced me further and further from any thoughts of that psychotic killer chasing us down. So I surrendered myself to the feeling, letting it consume me just as Jade was consuming my lips and taking up every corner of my mind. It was so much easier to forget like this. Lost in the throes of passion and pleasure.
The two of us rolled around on the bed, our limbs tangling and entwining in clothes, hair, arms, legs and any bit of each other we could latch onto.
"Hey," Jade broke off to kiss at my neck. A devilish expression crossed her face. "How do you think Carys would react if she found out we were doing this in her room?"
My lips twitched up, the first genuine smile since we boarded the Asmodeus. "She'd probably curse me out." I laughed. "Make me regret it."
"Oh?" Jade poured a flurry of kisses across my chest. "You think she could get you to regret this?"
"Not possible."
"Good answer."
She leaned back in, our lips meeting for the third time that night, tenderly.
The Heads on the wall didn't bother me anymore.
It was a little later when we finally broke apart and caught our breath. We hadn't… done that… but the two of us were thoroughly satisfied with where we left off. The thoughts about Carys seemed like a distant memory, and I forever wanted to keep the immeasurable happiness in my chest just so I could enjoy it later.
Thinking to myself, I sat up from the bed and walked over to the brewing stand, taking out a glass bottle and holding it against my chest.
"What are you doing?" Jade asked, bemused.
"I'm trying to make a Potion of Joy." I answered, wishing the feeling could be contained and saved. No such luck. "Too bad. It's a great feeling."
"It'll be right here." Jade said, reaching out to take my hand and press it against her chest. "Anytime you feel too burdened by it all. Just let me know."
I smiled gently. "Thank you. But, you don't have to—"
"I did this because I wanted to." She cut me off, her amethyst eyes staring deeply into mine. "And because you needed it. But if Floyd or Soul ever asked for this, I'd turn them both down. They're not you."
"Oh. You mean… you…"
"Don't make me spell it out for you." She rolled her eyes. "Not after that romp."
"Kissing is a form of greeting in some cultures."
"Herobrine above, you're a dweeb."
We shared a laugh at that. She didn't know how much her efforts meant to me. Or maybe she did, if that knowing smirk was any indication. With all the kissing we shared, I hoped I was able to convey as much warmth and happiness as she had.
As nice as this had been, and as much as I needed it, I had to return to the matter at hand.
"Carys won't stop."
"No, she won't." Jade agreed, disappointed that she couldn't drive off those dark thoughts forever. She had brightened things up considerably, especially with the admittance that she… felt that way about me. But with it added a whole new level of connection that Carys could prey upon.
And that terrified me more than ever.
"I can't beat her." I admitted somberly. "Even with everyone together, I don't know if we can—"
"Cobb."
When Jade spoke, it was like nothing I ever heard from her before. She looked at me with the most vulnerable expression I had ever seen. In that moment, it felt like her emotions were bared for all the world to see, her amethyst eyes speaking directly from the heart.
"Let's run away."
"W-What?"
"We can ditch the airship and escape into the wilds—just the two of us!" She said excitedly.
"What do you mean? What about the others—?"
Her eyes snapped shut and she flashed a beaming smile.
"Just kidding!"
She laughed it off, covering her mouth to stifle her giggles. I chuckled along, though more awkwardly than anything. "What's gotten into you?"
When her eyes opened again, the vulnerable look in her eyes was gone. Smothered by those amethyst orbs.
"It's nothing…"
It wasn't, I could tell, but it was the last she'd talk about it.
"You know, you might have a better chance at killing Carys than you think." Jade said.
"Tch. Yeah, right. Did you miss the part where she made me her human punching bag?"
"I'm serious." She insisted. "You're alive, aren't you? How many of Carys' enemies you think can say that?"
"I'm only alive because she went easy on me." I shrugged off her praise. "If she was fighting at full strength I'd be dead in a second."
"…What do you mean she was going easy on you?" Jade asked, cocking her head in confusion. "You could tell?"
"Well, yeah, when I fell off the side, she kept me from dying." I explained, remembering that Jade wasn't there for that. "She kept healing me over and over because she didn't want me to die before seeing my friends go. She wants me to suffer—Whoa!"
Jade gripped my shoulders, her eyes wide with hope. "Cobb, don't you see what that means!?"
"Um… no?"
"Carys won't kill you because she wants you to suffer. Her rage is keeping her from killing you." She clapped my shoulders encouragingly. "That means, you're the only person in Minecraftia who can fight her without fear of death."
"Not very comforting when there's a bigger fear of my friends' deaths." I replied, gently taking her hands in mine.
"If she's fighting you, she won't have a chance to go after them. And with some additional training and some better enchantments, I can bring you up to a level where you can go toe-to-toe with her."
"Jade, I fought her before." I repeated, wishing she could understand. "She mopped Cloud Castle with me, and that was her holding back. No amount of training is going to bridge that gap."
"Cobb, I know you're scared of her. I really do." Jade hugged me close, speaking the words into my ear. "But you need to shelf that fear, because there's only one way this can go with Carys."
I waited with bated breath, even though I knew the words she would say next. The impossible task that I'd be burdened with.
"You have to kill her."
That was all the talk of Carys for the night. It was late, and we both needed our rest. For whatever happened.
But before Jade could leave, I called out to her.
"Do you think the others would mind if you skipped your shift and… slept here with me instead?"
The nightmares were still a concern, one that I knew being with Jade could remedy. Just for a night, and the bed was big enough for two anyway. She kept me in suspense before turning around and clambering into bed, patting the side and waiting for me to join her.
I felt a surge of gratitude for the parkour master, wishing I knew the words to express it. Instead, I turned off the main lights, leaving a redstone torch glowing to keep the Mobs from spawning. But before I settled next to Ja—my girlfriend—I took out the Wither Skeleton Head from my backpack and stared coldly into its eyes.
Then my eyes slid to the wall of trophies showing of Carys' unfortunate victims. I looked at that wall, knowing that Carys would plaster my Head up there right alongside my friends if she had her way.
Blood: You have to kill her…
I attached the dark skull mask to the wall, a symbol of my resolve.
To protect my World, Carys had to die.
Inventory (Cobb): 1 Iron Helmet, 1 Leather Tunic [Dyed Green, Mending I, Unbreaking I], 1 Diamond Leggings [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Boots, 1 Fishing Rod {Backlash} [Knockback II, Luck of the Sea III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Sword, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 1 Banner {Beginners}, 64 Cobblestone, 47 Cobblestone, 1 Bed, 26 Dirt, 11 Torches, 3 Coal, 17 Flint, 12 Jungle Wood Logs, 64 Jungle Wood Planks, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Clock, 1 Bucket, 5 String, 21 Emeralds, 11 Snowballs, 2 Gunpowder, 46 Cooked Mutton, 13 Rotten Flesh, 1 Book {How to Kill Stuff for Numb Nuts}, 1 Book {Advanced Mob-Slaying}, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}
[EXP: 31]
Inventory (Floyd): 1 Leather Cap [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III], 1 Leather Tunic [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III] {Weak}, 1 Leather Leggings [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III], 1 Leather Boots [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Pickaxe, 30 Iron Ingots, 31 Dirt, 1 Fishing Rod, 1 Furnace, 55 Cooked Mutton, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Minecart, 1 Bed, 1 Boat, 1 Emerald, 1 Iron Sword, 1 Diamond Helmet [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Leggings [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Boots [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Leggings, 17 Gunpowder, 8 Ender Pearls, 1 Iron Chestplate, 1 Iron Leggings, 1 Iron Boots, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}
[EXP: 32]
Inventory (Lenz): 1 Leather Cap [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III], 1 Leather Leggings [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III], 1 Leather Boots [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III], 1 Bow, 1 Shears, 2 Levers, 1 Stone Button, 5 Redstone Torches, 1 Bed, 9 Redstone Repeaters, 3 Redstone Comparators, 28 Redstone, 18 Blocks of Redstone, 2 Hoppers, 3 Pistons, 2 Sticky Pistons, 21 Cobblestone, 1 Minecart, 1 Compass, 25 Gunpowder, 6 Arrows, 16 Jungle Wood Planks, 1 Crafting Table, 58 Cooked Mutton, 16 Sugar Cane, 8 Paper, 5 Ink Sacs, 3 Leather, 5 Emeralds, 1 Book {Airship Piloting 101}, 1 Book {Notebook}, 1 Book {How to Kill Stuff for Numb Nuts}, 1 Book {Advanced Mob-Slaying}, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Daymonte Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}
[EXP: 15]
Inventory (Soul): 1 Diamond Axe, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 64 Iron Ingots, 52 Iron Ingots, 12 Flint, 12 Gold Ingots, 1 Milk, 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection IV, Feather Falling IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Crafting Table, 1 Bed, 1 Furnace, 24 Torches, 34 White Wool, 58 Dirt, 64 Cobblestone, 62 Cobblestone, 32 Jungle Wood Planks, 1 Armor Stand, 5 Ender Pearls, 28 Emeralds, 64 Cooked Mutton, 9 Cooked Mutton, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}
[EXP: 50]
Inventory (Jade): 1 Leather Cap [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III], 1 Leather Tunic [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III] {Weak}, 1 Leather Leggings [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III] {Weak}, 1 Leather Boots [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection IV], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection IV], 1 Iron Sword, 1 Diamond Cutlass, 1 Bed, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 53 Cooked Mutton, 27 Torches, 30 Jungle Wood Planks, 64 Cobblestone, 48 Cobblestone, 24 Obsidian, 2 Buckets, 1 Compass, 1 Clock, 23 Emeralds, 2 Ender Chests, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Dover Plains Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Lazuli Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}
[EXP: 31]
Inventory (Noman): 1 Diamond Sword [Sharpness I], 1 Diamond Chestplate {Severe Shield}, 1 Leather Boots {Bottes Zephyr} [Dyed White], 1 Black Shield {Slight Shield} [Blue Cross], 1 Bow [Infinity], 28 Birch Wood Planks, 35 Iron Ingots, 18 Sticks, 13 Torches, 1 Bucket, 1 Crafting Table, 48 Cooked Mutton, 2 Ender Chests, 9 Ender Pearls, 1 Potion of Healing II, 1 Potion of Healing II, 1 Potion of Regeneration II {0:22}, 1 Potion of Regeneration II {0:22}, 1 Potion of Water Breathing {8:00}, 1 Bed, 1 Book {Artifact List}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Map {Zeppil}, 1 Compass, 64 Arrows, 3 Sugar, 14 Bookshelves, 6 Enchanted Golden Apples, 1 Diamond Helmet, 1 Diamond Chestplate, 1 Diamond Leggings, 1 Diamond Boots, 10 Emerald Blocks, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 2 Bones
[EXP: 20]
AN: DAAAAAAARK!
...I know what it looks like, but... but really, it's supposed to be dark. I promise.
Anyway, here's an Omake.
Omake: Erin, No
[Endward Cult Executive and Lieutenant Still at Large!]
[On July 20th, 0500, two high-ranking cultists and an accomplice escaped Ringwood's finest in an intense battle that saw our esteemed Captain Wynn_Whispers incapacitated. Worse still, the high-ranking cultists defeated visiting Daymonte Captain Velocishot, AKA Veronica, AKA The Golden Hawk, AKA Self-Proclaimed Wynn-Sexual.]
"Whoever wrote this is spending a week in prison." The ivory-haired Captain growled as she soldiered on reading through the morning's newsbook.
Throwing her fight with Cobb had certainly hurt her reputation and stirred up fear for the cult. But she still preferred that than blindly turning him over to Nitebane. There was still no word on who was truly in charge there.
[Executive King_Cobb and Lieutenant Flawwed_Floyd escaped from Ringwood and haven't been heard of since… until today! The Berserkers, one of Minecraftia's largest guilds, has reported that the two high-ranking cultists terrorized Jolin during late August, and inflicted damages on both the Kingdom and the Berserkers' own Headquarters. Needless to say, the guild is fupping furious and eager to see these degenerates behind bars. They've organized a task force comprised of their best fighters to hunt them down, and are working in conjunction with Nitebane.]
Wynn clicked her tongue. Those idiots had stirred up the hornets' nest with whatever they were doing. It was one thing when the Berserkers were after them just for their bounties, but damaging their HQ? Now it was personal.
Wynn sighed as she skimmed the rest of the book. Satisfied that there was nothing more on the duo, she shut it and sunk into her chair. While no news was good news, and that letter they sent was a comfort she reread at least once a week, there was far too much going on. Cobb's guild seemed to be at the center, like the eye of a hurricane. So many people were after them…
Wynn shook her head. They were fine. They were resourceful and crafty. And capable of infuriating anyone into submission. If that wasn't an unstoppable force, she didn't know what was.
She needed to busy herself with work to get her mind off them. The Cross-Kingdom railway was well underway, she could probably check up on that, and then patrol the streets.
With her day's tasks decided, she pushed out of the chair and swept past the kitchen and an ironclad Erin on the floor to retrieve her rapier. Her Tinker's Weapon was freshly polished and ready for her to—
...?
She backtracked to the kitchen and took a second glance just to confirm. There, lying on her back like a turtle was her housekeeper Erin, clad in iron armor. She gave a slight 'Eep!' at the sight of the Captain before waving.
"H-H-Hey, Miss Whispers. Funny meeting you, here."
"…In my home?"
"U-Um… yes?" She hedged. "Small world."
"Erin, why are you wearing my armor?" The Captain asked as she stood over her. Then, she remembered the newsbook. "You read about Cobb, didn't you?"
"N-n-no!" Erin stuttered, trying and failing to roll onto her front. The armor was too heavy, encumbering her like a cat with tissue boxes for paws. After a minute of this, she sighed. "Yes."
"Honesty feels good, doesn't it?" Wynn sighed before hauling the housekeeper to her feet. "Look, I know what you're trying to do. You're armoring up with the intent to go out searching for Cobb since you just read that the Berserkers are gunning for him and his friends." Brave, yet naïve and stupid. Just like the fisherman himself. "But you need to understand that Cobb and his guild can handle themselves. They aren't stupid enough to get caught, and—"
"It's not the Berserkers I'm worried about!" Erin bawled, swinging her stiff arms around. "He has a lady friend with him, and I refuse to let her make a move on him! I'm going to stop her! Even if I have to kill her!"
Ah. So she was just crazy. Also like the fisherman. "Erin, no."
"Erin, YES!"
"Most of Minecraftia is hunting for Cobb, you really think you'll find him before anyone else?"
"Watch me!"
Erin pivoted on her heels and shuffled away at a snail's pace, the iron armor clanking noisily along with her. Wynn gave her a flat stare before beating her frantic charge to the door with a brisk walk. Once she cut her off, Wynn gently pushed Erin's chest until she fell with a high-pitched yelp. Flat on her back.
"Uhn! Uhn!" She worked her arms furiously, rocking from side to side, but unable to right herself. "…Help."
With the housekeeper safely detained, Wynn collected her rapier and left the mansion. Erin's pitiful whines made her feel a pang of guilt, but there was no way that cinnamon roll would last outside Ringwood's walls. Her crush on Cobb would be the death of her.
"Maybe I should see if there are any single guards for her."
AN: There's a poll on my profile. Check it out if you want. Also, the forum link on profile if you want to ask questions about the story or chat with others.