AN: This just in. We have a Forum, a Discord Server, and now a Minecraft Server. It's not like the My Craft world, but it promises a good time if you like the nostalgia of Minecraft... and you can run the programs on your computer without it lagging.
Anyway, conflagulations to guest BramblBush for guessing last Chapter's riddle. The answer: A bank! Enjoy your Cookie and your acknowledgement.
(::)
Another long Chapter. Hopefully you enjoy.
Puzzle: I'm light as a feather, but if you hold me too long, you'll die. What am I?
Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft.
Currently lost on the community server. Went out searching for a Woodland Mansion, but it was too far. I'm nearly out of Baked Potatoes to eat. Send help.
Chapter 147
Akashic Records
[Cobb]
"Here you go. Payment up front, as promised." I handed over the eighteen emeralds to Peedit, who, simultaneously, looked both surprised and relieved that we kept our word. The innkeeper also seemed to tidy things up a bit. The smell had largely been improved by the introduction of a handful of potted flowers.
"Thank you. Truly. Thank you." Peedit bowed slightly, clutching the emeralds to her chest. Sensing the protectiveness, Noman nudged my shoulder.
"Oh, right. We also got you a spare ender chest to replace your lost one." I held it out. "No safer place for your stuff."
"I-I…" She stammered. "The-the cost of this, I-I could never accept—"
"It's fine. Really. I was getting them for my girlfriend, anyway." I pressed the chest into her arms. "She won't lose any sleep over one more."
"I…" She swallowed thickly, wiping her eyes. "If-if you're sure…?"
"We're sure." Noman smiled kindly. "Anyway, we're quite tired and we're waiting on our friends to get here. Would you—"
"I would! I-I mean, I could stay behind the counter and, ah, let them know your rooms. You do look tired." She noticed as Lenz lifted his tinted glasses to reveal tired eyes. "You get some rest. I'll just need the names of your friends."
We made sure to omit Floyd's name. Even if Akasha wasn't willing to put up a Hacker's wanted poster, it was better for Peedit's nerves she didn't know of Floyd's smoking problem.
She said to get some rest. I was tired. And yet, a few hours later, I sat on the bed of my dingy room, eyes drooping, watching the time tick by on my clock and waiting for Jade, Soul, and Floyd to return.
The map was in my palms, showing the seven blips that were me and my friends… and the fresh spawns in Ringwood, not that they were a part of this.
Floyd's blip… Floyd's blip had been, for the last hour, speeding in and out of the Kingdom's boundaries. At first, I thought he was getting Hacker-napped by the Clan, but he always came speeding back before stopping dead. He was likely using his Speed Hack. Training, maybe? Did that mean his powers were under control? If so, then those Hackers really did know better than us.
And wasn't that a difficult thing to admit.
Would Floyd going with them be better for him? I don't want him to go, but… this could be life-changing for him.
Considering how often Floyd was moving across the map, expecting him back tonight would be a stretch. A shame, since I needed his help to ask Sandra for something.
As for Jade and Soul… they had that raid with the ACC tonight. Their blips had been at one point in Akasha for a while, and only now were they making their way towards the Taamba Kaata Inn. They stopped in the market for a bit, probably for some shopping, only to continue on their path. What was even open at this hour?
I had Jade's ender chests at my belt, ready to give her. I planned to ask her about how the raid went first… unless she was tired and wanted to sleep first. Actually, would she be alright with sharing a room? I kind of assumed it.
Ugh… maybe I should just let her pick.
Seeing how close they were, I clambered out of bed and ambled down to the lobby where Peedit was patiently waiting. The ender chest had been proudly placed at the front desk, the innkeeper polishing it to give it a nice shine.
Jade and Soul entered at the same time I waved a greeting.
"Hey, Cob—Uff!" Soul was cut off by Jade's helpful elbow in his ribs. She subtly pointed to the innkeeper, Soul realizing he nearly gave away my identity. "Cob… cobble… you cobble-brained idiot, how the hell are ya?" He rectified sloppily.
"I'm good." I shook my head, the Skeleton Skull keeping my panicked expression hidden. "Jade, how'd the raid go with the ACC?"
There was a slight gasp from behind, coming from Peedit. I gave a half-turn towards her, but Jade was already answering.
"It was a total sham!" Jade fumed, paying little attention to the disheveled state of the inn as she strode in. "Those ACC guys are a sorry bunch of fraudulent scumbags or gullible fools."
Peedit's eyes widened and she leaned forward slightly, but that was all I caught before Soul interjected.
"Don't mind her. She's just upset because she couldn't find evidence on a culprit, but Nephrait did. OW!" Soul rubbed his shoulder as Jade struck him again.
"I told you Bakara was clean! I'd bet my life on it." Jade grumbled. "Nephrait went behind my back and planted false evidence to implicate him."
"Oh, come on, why would she do that?"
"Remember what Captain Obsidian said? Bakara's wife owns a seat on the council. Maybe Nephrait wanted to frame him to weaken her position." Jade was mumbling to herself. "If that's true, this whole thing stinks of corruption."
"I'm sorry." I raised my hand, the other one worming through the eyeholes of my mask to pinch the bridge of my nose. "I'm tired. Can you please explain what happened?"
Soul heaved a sigh. "Jade's convinced there's some great conspiracy in Akasha."
"She'd be right."
The three of us whirled upon Peedit, her faint voice taking on an edge of steel as she stepped around the counter.
"The ACC is corrupt." She stressed. "They're been locking up many innocent people and Grosvenor_McGahn is at the heart of it."
"HA! I told you!" Jade shot Soul a smug look, the axe-wielder going oddly pale.
"But… but Glowing_Obsidian seemed like such a good guy. Determined and strong—"
"I don't know whether he's aware or not," Peedit offered, "but I'm absolutely sure that McGahn is corrupt and Nephrait his puppet. He has her and a few loyal followers lay false breadcrumb trails for the ACC, then plants false evidence come the time of the investigations. She's smooth enough to pull it off without anyone being the wiser."
"Until today." Jade said. "How do you know all this?"
"Because my…" Peedit hesitated before thinking better of it. "The taboo on the Cult's Founder. McGahn passed legislation to censor the mere mention of the name in any book, but it also extended to any criticisms of the council within newsbooks. All of McGahn's critics in the papers were accused of sympathizing with the Cult or defending their views. If they didn't keep quiet about his policies, they were closely watched. The more liberal voices were dealt with covertly by Nephrait and overtly by Glowing_Obsidian. All of them wound up in the Pit."
"The Pit?"
"Akasha's maximum security prison. More of a hole in the ground, but it's inescapable." Peedit noted sadly.
"How many innocent people do they have locked away?" A new voice asked. I turned to see Noman at the stairs. There was no sleep in his eyes. He was wide awake and troubled by what he heard. "Notch, did they even imprison any cultists?"
"Maybe some of them were true sympathizers." Peedit didn't sound too sure. "But I'd say most of the people in the Pit are victims. Either from being a threat to McGahn or a threat to someone else."
"…What do you mean?"
"…Some citizens… make stuff up, when it benefits them." She replied evasively.
Suddenly, I remembered all the people we questioned earlier today about the Akashic Records
'Wh-Why would I know of that place? I'm clean! A-And I'd report anyone affiliated to the ACC immediately!'
'Hmph. Sounds to me like you're an ACC spy, fishing for intel and suspects to lock up. Especially wearing a mask like that.'
"So then… then the people I put down today…" Soul grabbed at his jaw, his face twisting in rage… and self-loathing. "They were just… just innocent…"
"That's low." Noman spoke with more disgust than I thought him capable of. "How can McGahn be doing this? How is anyone fine with this? They should stand up to him!"
"And do what?" Peedit asked, almost desperately. "Protestors are thrown in the Pit with the rest. ACC have no patience for dissenters and McGahn's agents are sly, manipulative Crafters. People are too afraid to speak up, especially when the ACC claims to be putting away cultists. To feel safe, they would sacrifice their freedom."
"But, if you got enough people together—"
"No." Peedit shook, clutching her hands to her chest. "I must not speak out. I promised my… I must worry about myself! That's all anyone in this Kingdom ever does. I'm already risking my safety telling you this much. If the ACC ever found out…"
She shivered in place, Noman looking on with worry.
"Peedit…" He reached out a hand, but Peedit steeped outside his reach.
"I… I should retire. I was only staying up to wait for your friends. Good night." There was a dull note of finality in her farewell, her voice offering no comfort as she half-fled the lobby to her own room.
"Ugh, what a mess." I summed up, sinking into the lobby's broken couch. Soul was still lost in thought, staring at his hands. The Crafters he had slain during the raid were still heavy on his mind. "It's pointless to add, but our search didn't turn up anything on Arquero. We've got a lead, but we need to contact Floyd and his little friends first." I made sure Peedit was out of earshot before throwing out Floyd's name.
"Makes you wonder if Arquero is even bad at all." Jade said, giving me pause for thought.
"…He's stealing his books." I said after a moment. "Nephrait didn't plant anything this time. It was all Arquero. He has ties with the Founder, which makes him a target of the ACC even without all the framing going on. The only difference is he's good at not getting caught."
I told Jade and Soul about the Akashic Records and how it was burned down. Soul didn't seem to care so much about the books.
"Looks like we both did a bit of investigating." Jade noted.
"So what the hell do we do now!?" Soul growled, kicking at the broken couch I was sitting on. "We came here to investigate the cultist arrests, only to find that they were all bogus!? That McGahn bastard is sitting on high, manipulating grieving victims of the cult into doing his dirty work! We can't let that shit slide! We need to find that son of a bitch, and—"
"Language, language, language, language." Noman ticked off his fingers for each swear. "And no. We can't attack him. Violence isn't the answer."
"No, it's the question. And the answer is YES!"
"The answer is NO. If we confront him, we'll just be playing into his hands. The ACC will arrest us." Noman said reasonably. "I agree, however, that something must be done. Locking up innocent Crafters does little to help against the true cultists."
"We can't be reckless." Jade agreed. "The ACC has Obsidian, and he has quite the reputation."
"Obsidian!" Soul exclaimed. "That's it! We can just go to him."
"What do you mean?"
"If Obsidian is the driving force behind the ACC and he's being manipulated by McGahn and Nephrait, all we got to do is set him straight." Soul smashed a fist into his palm, loving the idea. "Let him know that the people he's been locking up are as much cultists as he is."
"That… could work." Noman agreed. "You truly think this Captain Obsidian is innocent in all this?"
Soul nodded emphatically. "I'm telling you, he's hardcore. He's fighting because he hates the Cult. McGahn's just using that hate to do his dirty work… and I bet there are other ACC members in a similar situation. We gotta expose that bast—bad guy." He amended following Noman's cross look.
"And free the innocent Crafters wrongly imprisoned." Noman added.
I wanted to add to the conversation, maybe give some semblance that this was a unified, group decision to, once again, mess with the internal affairs of another Kingdom, but as it was, I could barely stay awake. After waiting up for Jade and Soul to get back, I now had to listen to this development. Who was McGahn? Jade didn't like Nephrait, but why? All the information came to me as a jumbled mess as my eyelids drooped and my head nodded. My brain was running on fumes.
Brain: Too much exposition for sleep addled self. Emergency Shutdown initiated. Muscles… not responding. Gonna… fall…
"Cobb?" A gentle voice asked, an arm taking hold of my shoulder.
Then, my vision darkened, losing focus, and I drifted off.
I awoke in my own bed, my eyes fluttering open and the first thing I saw being Jade's peaceful sleeping face. Her green locks formed a curtain over one eye and her breathing was even. She was even smiling softer than the pillow cushioning my head.
Also we were practically sharing a bed. Having nodded off, I was blameless. Jade likely opted to share body heat because of the particularly cold mesa nights. Now, though, with the rising sun warming us over, it was stifling under the covers.
"Mmmm…" Jade yawned cutely, stirring from her sleep and gazing upon me with her beautiful amethyst eyes. "You're up."
"Yeah. How'd I get back to my room?"
"Noman and I carried you. It must have been a tiresome night." She smiled. "First time I saw you drift off like that."
"Well, I was tired waiting for you." I sat up, stretching my arms. "Did you guys talk anymore about the business with the ACC?"
"No. We figured we'd wait until the morning. Look at it with fresh eyes. We were all tired." Jade rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "We'll come up with a plan for those ACC goons, though. Nephrait and McGahn won't know what hit 'em."
"…Right." I said, cautiously. After all, we were still tracking down Arquero and those books. We had to get that done first before focusing on the ACC issue. "Hey, since I've got you—"
"And I got you." She smiled flirtatiously, squashing herself next to me.
"Y-Yeah, hehe, a-anyway…" I blushed, glad that the Skeleton Head was covering for me… until Jade lifted it and pecked me on the lips, laughing louder at my steaming face. Unable to take the teasing, I settled for throwing out a closed fist with the ender chests. "Here. I saw these and thought of you."
She gingerly took the ender chests in her hand, leaving two for me. Then, looking down at them, she started to giggle.
"What? You don't like them?" I asked, worried.
"No. it's just… I got you something too."
She rummaged around in her backpack before presenting a glowing enchanted book between her palms.
"It's a new enchantment. Got it off a Testificate at the market place last night." She explained, handing it over. "Sounded like it could give you an 'edge'."
"Sweeping Edge III?" I read aloud, turning the book over in my hands. "Is it a sword enchantment? No, never mind that. How much did this cost you?"
"How much did the ender chests cost you?" She fired back, shutting me up. She smiled good-naturedly, though. "We both bought each other something expensive. Let's leave it at that… though I wouldn't mind being credited with being the best girlfriend ever." She held up her nose in mock pomp. "You may praise me."
I snickered. "Well, thanks. Does this mean I'm the best boyfriend ever?"
"Mmmm… maybe." Jade pretended to consider. "Anyway, let's find you an anvil. See what that enchantment is made of."
As we both got out of bed and had an… admittedly heavy breakfast of cooked mutton—
Stomach: Get fruits and veggies, lardass. Urp…
—We readied our gear and made our way to the other rooms. Before leaving, I made sure the Skeleton mask was firmly affixed over my face.
"Hey, Cobb?" Jade asked. "Do you have my diamond cutlass?"
"Huh? Why would I have that?"
"Well, we were sharing a bed, so I thought maybe I rolled over and it fell out or something." Jade was looking through her belt and backpack carefully. "Could you please check?"
"Yeah, sure." I peered into my backpack and double-checked my belt, but found no sign of Jade's Tinker's weapon. "Sorry, I don't have it. Where was the last place you remember seeing it?"
"I used it to take down Bakara last night." Jade struggled to remember, all the while combing through her belt and backpack carefully. "I know I wouldn't leave it lying around. My teacher gave me it."
"Your ender chest maybe?" I guessed, wanting to help Jade upon seeing her rising panic. "Maybe you put it away when you bought the enchanted book?"
"No… no I had it then. I remember brushing my hand against the handle. I had it after the marketplace." She said, shoving items in her backpack aside, trying to find a flash of diamond. At one point, she just started chucking everything out of her pack. "Where is it? Where is it?"
"Jade, whoa, calm down. I'm sure it'll turn up—"
*SLAM*
We had just entered the lobby when the building shook. The front door had been slammed open and I watched as three foul-looking Crafters waltzed in, picks and shovels in hand.
Now what? I thought, keeping under cover of the stairwell.
"Innkeeper!" One of the Crafters roared, and over by the counter I saw Peedit flinch.
"P-Please, no." She stammered. "The place was only just fixed up—"
"We busted this place up for a reason!" The Crafter cut her off, swinging his pick into the adjacent wall, splintering it. "How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old woman? We want you out of our neighborhood. When we break something, we expect it to stay broken!"
Another Crafter swung a shovel into the windows we repaired just last night, making me scowl. Unconsciously, I reached for my diamond sword.
Brain: Cobb, what are you doing?
I reached for my fishing rod instead.
Brain: Now you're thinking!
"Please, stop this." Peedit cried. "I'm just trying to run my Inn. I don't want any trouble!"
"Then quietly watch as we wreck your place. Maybe you'll learn this time. And what's that!?" He exclaimed, pointing to the ender chest she tried to hide. The ender chest I gave her. "We explicitly told you not to have an Inventory we can't search! Yet you got another one anyway!? Boys, break that ender chest into eight pieces of obsidian!"
"No, please!"
The first goon made it five steps before a hook found his collar and yanked him across the lobby. The handle of Backlash struck out, bashing him in the nose and activating its Knockback, flinging him out the window he had so callously broken.
The other two Crafters had whiplash with how fast their heads went between the broken window and me. "Wh-What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
"What are you doing," I said, strolling out of hiding, "harassing an Innkeeper? Does it make you feel like big, strong men?"
"Listen, skullface. This doesn't concern you. And what are you even doing wearing a mask? Are you some wannabe Angel of Death knockoff?"
"No, I don't have a pig complex."
"…What?"
"Never mind. Just leave. Unless you want to end up like your rude friend." I pointed to the window.
"Oh?" They brandished their pickaxes with menace. "You think you can take the two of us alone?"
"He's not alone."
The two Crafters whirled around, only for one to get clonked on the head with the back of Soul's axe and the other to get disarmed by two well-placed smacks with Noman's shield.
"Comparators, I wanted to do something to look cool too!" Lenz shouted from the stairs, bow hanging limp from his hands after tensing it for a shot.
The Crafter Noman disarmed looked around at how outnumbered he was. "You… you're gonna pay for this! You're defending a cultist lover!"
"None of us love the Endward Cult you ass clown."
"Language!" Noman sighed. "Where do you come up with half this stuff?"
"I try to be creative for your sake. Try enough curses and you can't disparage them all." Soul smirked back. "Anyway, you're the thugs coming in here wrecking house. None of us are on the Cult's side."
"She is!" The Crafter pointed to Peedit, causing the old woman to curl in on herself. "Her husband is a convicted cultist! Not once did she speak against his actions during the trial! As far as we're concerned, she's in league with him!"
"What?" Noman asked, looking to the Innkeeper. "Peedit, is that true?"
Peedit didn't answer, instead holding herself and shivering, something awful plaguing her.
"It's true alright!" The Crafter continued. "She just doesn't want to admit how her husband, Kapila, was caught red-handed with orders from the Endward Cult to 'collect' sacrifices for some dark ritual. If you ask me, Kapila got off lucky. He was thrown into the Pit with the rest of the garbage when we should have just burned them—"
"That's enough!"
The Crafter slumped to the ground after getting bashed in the head, not by Soul, but by Noman. He glared at the fallen man before turning back to a shivering Peedit, his expression softening.
"Peedit, your husband…"
Peedit shook her head. "Y-You all need to leave. There can be no fighting in my Inn."
"They started it." Soul huffed, kicking at the one he knocked out.
"Fighting only makes it worse!" Peedit screamed at the axe-wielder, making him take a step back. "Fighting only attracts the ACC! What do you think will happen now, when they find two unconscious men at the establishment of a suspected cultist! That's right!" She emphasized in response to Noman's flinch. "Suspected cultist! My husband fought. He spoke against McGahn's laws with others. Then suspicions were aroused, accusations were made, 'evidence' was planted, and… and…" She broke down into sobs. "A-And they took my sweet Kapila away!"
I felt a dull ache in my throat as all the little things about lonely Peedit and her disheveled Inn made sense. Her distaste of the ACC, the Crafters coming in to mess up the place, her somber attitude and quiet murmurs of her missing husband. No wonder she knew of Nephrait and her evidence planting. Her husband had been a victim to it, and now she was being pressured to leave.
"He… he told me not to fight." She sobbed heavily. "He told me to stay tough and endure it. Stay out of jail and act smart. It would have been better for everyone if you just let those Crafters smash up my Inn. But now…"
"That's not better at all." Noman said stepping forward. "You can't just suffer in silence. You need to stand up and be heard. At least tell the guards you're being harassed."
"…The guards don't care for a cultist's wife."
"Then they're just as bad as the Endward Cult." Noman decided. "If you won't speak up, I will. It's time we set the ACC straight. Their investigations are nothing more than witch hunts!"
"Witch hunts!" Soul agreed, backing up Noman. "C'mon. Let's go tell Captain Obsidian that he's working with a bunch of rats."
"Don't…" Peedit tried to warn, tears leaking. "McGahn's influence is too powerful. You'll never convince Obsidian, let alone the ACC. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."
"Well the nail that sticks up… gets… stepped on and… and gives tetanus to… the stepper…" Soul trailed off lamely.
"We're setting things right." Noman said.
"Thanks for the save." Soul nodded.
"Nobody's seen my cutlass!?" Jade shouted, her hair frazzled. "I could have taken those jerks apart in a second with it. Where is it?"
"Don't look at me. I didn't take it." Soul held up his hands.
"I know you didn't take it, but… wait a second…" Jade suddenly stopped, her arms falling to her sides as she proceeded to think to herself. "When…" Suddenly her eyes hardened. "That sticky-fingered bitch!"
"Langua-whoa!" Noman was bowled out of the way as Jade ran out the front door, fuming. However, she didn't get very far.
"Oh, what now?" Her voice came from just outside the Inn. Then, there was an angry shout. "Nephrait! You little thief!"
Sensing something was wrong, the rest of us filed out of the Inn and came face to face with three-dozen armed ACC members, at the front of which were a green-haired woman that could have passed as Jade's sister and an intimidating looking man covered in diamond gear.
Nephrait and Glowing_Obsidian.
They didn't look too pleased to see us. It was a good thing I had my mask on.
"Calling me a thief right out of the gate? You've got some nerve." Nephrait countered, resting a hand on her hip.
"Save it. I saw how greedy you looked eyeing up my diamond cutlass." Jade said. "You stole it while I was sleeping didn't you? Right when I was in my boyfriend's embrace."
"Uh, Jade, you're embarrassing me…"
"Captain Obsidian, I presume." Noman stepped forward, nodding respectfully to the Captain. "We have some troubling things to inform you of."
"Does it have anything to do with the fact your green-haired friend went on a killing spree last night?" The Captain shot back, perturbed.
"Uuuh…" Noman faltered.
"You heard him." Nephrait thrust her finger out in malediction. "No less than twelve Crafters were murdered last night. They all lived in the vicinity of this Inn where you happen to be staying."
"That… that doesn't prove—"
"There were witnesses!" The Captain snarled, a big honking sword slamming into the sandstone street to silence us. "Reports of a green-haired assailant wearing a Skeleton Mask and wielding a diamond cutlass. Sound familiar?"
"That wasn't me!" Jade defended.
"Yeah, she has an alibi! She was in my bed cuddling with me at the time of the crime." Now it was Jade's turn to hide an embarrassed blush. "Anyway, her diamond cutlass was stolen. Probably by the same person trying to frame her."
"A likely story. But who would want to frame your friend?"
"Gee, I don't know. Maybe ask the other green-haired Crafter following this conversation!" Soul said sarcastically. All eyes turned to Nephrait, but she remained cool and composed, deflecting suspicion with a mere scoff.
"Trying to sow discord amongst the ACC? That's a cultist move if ever I heard one." She pressed a hand to her chest. "My movements are accounted for last night. I was with Councilman McGahn, discussing a future raid. There were plenty of ACC members present to corroborate my alibi. I think some of them are here with us." She gave a half turn to the Crafters behind her and Obsidian. "But we didn't come here to testify. We came here to take AceOfJades into custody. She and the mysterious assailant last night had the same weapon and hair color. That's enough of a coincidence for us to investigate."
"Investigate what?" Soul shouted angrily. "You think Jade's gonna have a note that says 'I killed people' in big fat letters?"
"That's enough, Soul." The Captain warned. "We're going to have to check her room and Inventory for any clues. If we find nothing, she'll be quietly let go with our apologies. No need to even visit the inside of the Pit."
"And who's going to be doing the checking?" Jade asked. "Or are you just going to let Miss Sticky Fingers tamper with evidence and make up whatever story she wants?"
"Why, I never!"
"Captain Obsidian, you have to listen to what we have to say." Noman tried again, speaking directly to Glowing_Obsidian. "Nephrait has been planting false evidence to accuse innocent people of being cultists. It's a conspiracy to control the population within Akasha."
"That's an outrageous accusation!" An ACC member shouted.
"What do you think you're saying!?"
"Nobody works harder than Nephrait to catch cultists! She would never lie to the Captain, or to Councilman McGahn."
"That's because McGahn is in on it, you dumbasses!" Soul shouted. "You saw last night's raid! Those Crafters went down pretty easily for a pack of cultists don't you think?"
"Yeah, cuz we surprised them!"
"No, cuz they weren't cultists at all!" At this time, we were gathering a crowd. Crafters came out of their sandstone homes to see what all the morning fuss was about. They listened to Soul raptly, and I could feel the intensity in the air. "They were just innocent Crafters. Their only crime was being enemies of Councilman McGahn!" Soul went on. "Don't you see? He's using our hatred for the cult to make us his puppets. He can make us do whatever he wants, make us imprison or kill whoever, and all he has to say is that they're cultists."
"I'M NOBODY'S PUPPET!" The Captain roared, his sword breaking into the street with a downwards swing that had Nephrait flinch beside him. "We've kept the streets of Akasha safe, and Grosvenor's been supporting us from the get-go. I will not have you slander him!"
"It's the truth, Captain. McGahn has been preying on people's fear and victimizing Akasha's population." Noman exclaimed. He too noticed the gathering crowd and jumped up onto a bench so that he could be heard better. "Citizens of Akasha! I beg of you to speak of the injustices that plague you by the hands of the ACC! Don't let fear stop you! Speak and be heard! Show Captain Obsidian what he has been too blind to see!"
What the hell is he doing!?
I internally cringed at the sermon Noman was delivering. What, did he think this was some big, emotional moment where everyone would join hands and give a stranger unquestionable support? There were three dozen armed ACC members and I doubted the citizens were any good in a fight. It was like Peedit said. Speaking up would only land people in jail.
It was a great humiliation when nobody uttered a word to Noman's plea. People didn't turn to him, they turned away. Any interest was snuffed out when their own freedom was at risk if they continued to listen. Someone getting framed was probably a common occurrence. Happened all the time. Nobody was going to stick their necks out for us.
"…Peedit? Tell the Captain what happened with your husband—" Noman stopped when he saw the Innkeeper had already left. Her husband wanted her out of the Pit. Some flowery words from a stranger wasn't going to instill any action, even if he was the nicest guy in Minecraftia.
"That's enough disturbing the peace." Nephrait's expression oozed smugnessa t our failed attempts to garner support. "Clearly Jade and her friends are trying to stir up trouble. And that one is wearing the same mask as last night's murderer." She pointed a finger at me. "I say we take them all in. Then I can get around to checking Jade's room and backpack."
"She's just gonna slip the cutlass in when you're not looking." Jade swore. "That's what she does. She steals and sneaks like a coon."
"Actually, I agree with Nephrait." The Captain grunted. "Soul, I thought we were becoming good friends, but if you're going to stick with questionable company—"
"You're the one in questionable company!" Soul accused. "They're playing you! You've got McGahn's hand so far up your ass that—"
"I told you I'm not a puppet!" Obsidian lumbered forward, his giant sword dragging behind him as he went for Soul. The axe-wielder braced himself to block, but I could see the weight and power radiating off that sword. Blocking would get him killed!
"Move!" I shouted, shoving Soul out of the way before Jade's parkour lessons kicked in. The reflexes I trained up with her had developed nicely, allowing me to perform a half-step backward to dodge a fatal blow.
However, the sword knicked the side of my head. Just a scratch, but it had my head whipping to the side. My face felt strangely bare and there was a clatter before the ACC collectively gasped.
"That face…!"
"King_Cobb!"
"The Executive with the thousand emerald bounty! It's really him! In the heart of Akasha!"
I grabbed at my face, but it confirmed my fears. I was unmasked. We had the rest of the day before we'd be outed, but I had inadvertently sped things up. Now there was no chance of us ever convincing them.
"EXECUTIVE!" Obsidian roared before he brought his sword back around to cleave me in two. Lenz fired some arrows, but the monster of a man took them to get a hit on me. Noman jumped in the way, shield raised, and the two of us were beaten back with but a swing of his sword. We crashed into the others, hurting.
Nephrait looked like Christmas had come early. Maybe the plan was to frame Jade as a killer, but this was much better. Guilty by association.
"Guys! We've got problems!" Jade warned as the other ACC members advanced with pure hatred in their eyes. They had never caught a genuine Endward Cult Executive, and it looked like they weren't about to start; they'd kill me first. They were little more than an angry mob, fueled by red hot vengeance. They knew no fear as they swarmed Soul and Jade, the latter lacking her favored cutlass. Lenz covered as best he could with arrows.
"The pearls." Noman suggested, digging out several ender pearls from his belt. It was our only shot.
Nephrait saw. "They've got ender pearls! Don't let them throw them!"
Captain Obsidian rushed in again and I had to yank Soul with my fishing rod to side swipe the brute. Even then, he only shrugged it off before trying to cleave us in two.
"Soul, you traitor!" He growled. "Everything you told me was a lie! You're as good as dead!"
Noman passed out a pearl to Jade while everyone else already had their own readied. Looks like we owed Carys and her Paragons for the quick-escape items.
"Aim for Indrad Rock!" Lenz ordered before lobbing it towards the layered stone arching over the Kingdom. Four more pearls joined it before Nephrait could pluck them out of the air.
The others warped just as the ACC closed in around us. I was the last one and earned an armored forearm across the face before warping to the curved rock with my friends.
"Ah, get it off!" Lenz exclaimed, kicking wildly at the Endermite on his foot. Soul promptly grabbed it and crushed it with his bare fist. "Thank you."
"Kingdom's on high alert. We need to go." I ordered, rubbing the pain out of my face. Obsidian hit hard.
Guess that's why he's called Obsidian.
"Take the backstreets. We need to let Floyd know what is going on." Lenz consulted his map before guiding us down the curved rock to the closest alley…
Right when a patrol of ACC members arrived.
"There they are! After them!"
"Go! Go!"
"Ugh, I hate not having my cutlass!" Jade had to take out an iron sword to defend herself.
"Cobb?"
"Yeah, Noman?" I panted, running.
"We can never, ever come back to this Kingdom."
"Eh. Add it to the list."
"…There's a list!?"
[Carys]
The whole place was on high alert.
Groups of cultists jumped out to impede our progress. A colorful cast of weapons tore them apart and left gear and Heads in our wake.
I clicked my tongue at the lack of resistance. "They're all small-fry. No sign of Ember. We could kill a hundred of these buffoons and come no closer to crushing the Endward Cult. We need to take out the Lieutenants and Executives for the rest to crumble."
"Kal and Anibal are already engaging the cultists." Baltic reported.
"They couldn't wait on us?" Luis asked.
"Not with how fast they were mobilizing." Baltic explained. "Better to attack sooner than not. Most of the weapons are there. They might need our help taking them out."
"Just tell us where to go." I barked, slicing a cultist screaming bloody murder.
"Left up ahead."
As we took the turn, we came across the odd sight of the cultists attacking someone that wasn't a part of my invasion team. It was a man in a crimson trench coat with a long black ponytail and whose face was concealed by a facemask. He also wore diamond armor.
He paid us a fraction of attention before dispatching two cultists with a diamond blade. The other cultists took more notice of us swung at me, thinking I was the weaker target.
Ha.
My scythe slashed a criss-crossing pattern into the cultist's face, blinding him before outright killing him. A handle slammed into another cultist's jaw before Z7's knives found a home in his ribs. Shroud and Aurand, as part of Z7's assassination team, attacked from the shadows and targeted specific weak points, crippling the attackers before they could reach Baltic or the support team.
The man with the face mask killed a few more cultists and was about to kill the last one until one of my arrows caught him first. The cultist exploded in a shower of gear and the man was forced to drop his sword awkwardly after being beat.
"I had him." He protested.
"Then how come I had him first?" I challenged with a cocked head. Beside me, Z7 and Shroud had their weapons drawn and were pointing at the mystery man. "Who are you face mask?"
"Can't you read?" He asked, pointing above his head.
Ciro_Che. He was the Millionth Anibal had told me about earlier. Notch's old Captain. What were the odds we'd find him here, the very same night we were raiding?
Then again, it seemed too convenient. There was no telling what crowd the old Captain would have allied himself with after years of retirement. For all we knew, he could be a…
"So do you prefer Ciro, or Che? Or perhaps, Lieutenant Ciro_Che?"
His eyes widened, and it was then I noticed he was heterochromic. His right eye was black, but his left eye was gray.
"You think I'm a Lieutenant after I killed these men?" He gestured to the pile of loot and Heads.
I shrugged. "I wouldn't put it past a Lieutenant to kill his own men to earn another's trust. You all believe in that next life garbage anyway, so it fits."
"You couldn't be further from the truth." He stepped away. "I'm searching for something, and I doubt you have it. Let's both let each other pass. I'm sure you have better things to do."
"You're not getting away!"
I threw an ender pearl as fast as a flick, warping right up to his face. I swung my scythe down and caught him on the shoulder. He couldn't react in time to avoid the blow, but he swiped between us… with a stick of all things.
I swear, if this guy used stupid weapons on par with Cobb, I'd gut him like a—
As soon as the stick tapped me, I was bodily flung backwards, crashing into my Paragons, bowling through them, and striking the back wall. My breath left me from the impact, and I slowly slid to rest on my butt. Meanwhile, Ciro's footsteps echoed as he ran away, clutching his ruined shoulder with one hand.
That stick… it was like it had Knockback times a hundred. That sounded shockingly like one of Herobrine's cursed items that Anibal told me about.
"Carys!" Baltic hurried over, worry heavy in his voice. I hated how he fretted over me like I was some weak, little girl. "Are you hurt—?"
"I'm fine." I snarled, slapping his hand away. I really was fine. The stick didn't damage me. It only knocked me back.
"Hslfow dv xszhv?" Z7 spoke in garbled tongue, though it sounded inquisitive. She gestured to where Ciro had fled.
"…No." I decided, standing up. "The priority is eliminating the weapons. If we have time after, we'll look for old facemask."
Though this time, maybe take him alive.
The Millionth was Notch's old Captain and held one of Herobrine's cursed items. That guy with the shield—the one Cobb called Noman—claimed to be the Billionth and had an invincible chestplate and a pair of flying boots—another cursed item. He also claimed that Notch entrusted him with the chestplate. Cobb called himself the Billionth and was allied with the actual Billionth. And Notch was slain by Herobrine, the Endward Cult's Founder.
The pieces were still a jumbled mess, but they were starting to come together. I could see, vaguely, that all these people were somehow connected to one another, and that discovering the truth would go a long way towards destroying the Endward Cult. Instead of waiting around for Anibal to gather rumors and intel, maybe the best course was to get answers straight from Notch's old Captain. Ciro_Che knew enough about the cursed items to have one, just like Noman.
That meant the two Crafters, the Millionth and the Billionth, knew more than they were letting on.
[Floyd]
"You should take a break."
Sweat dripped down my face and my vision was darker at the edges. I had been training my Speed through the night without rest, but I was grinning.
"What's got you so happy?" Sandra asked.
In answer, I held up five fingers.
"Five more seconds!"
My limit had increased. Constant training paid off, and while forty seconds wasn't much more than thirty-five, considering the rate at which I could move, I could do a lot more.
Of perhaps a greater value was the decrease in time between activations. The cool-down period in which I was numb to the world like a dead fish was less than before, meaning I could jump back into the action sooner.
A sleepless night and an exhausted body was a small price to pay.
"You really should take better care of your body." Sandra advised, stooping down next to me. "Your body is your temple."
I groaned. "Another God metaphor?"
"You are a God." Sandra stressed, narrowing her eyes. "Say it. Believe it."
"Yeah, well," I gasped, "I don't feel much like a God right now."
Sandra made an irritated noise. "I can tell." Nonetheless, she helped me to my feet and lowered me into a chair. We were back at the gym. Sandra and Winslow had stepped away to sleep while I trained, but now only Sandra was back. It made me a bit nervous.
"Where's Winslow?"
"He'll be back. I had him fly to the Clan to let them know we're alright. And no, before you ask, nobody will know you're here." The protest died on my lips. "He's only passing on the information about the one who killed Ocan and Urson. By the end of the day, Carys_Angel will be Hacker enemy number one."
A mix of relief and shame pooled around my gut. Carys was our enemy, but what Cobb did…
Speaking of Cobb, the fisherman and the rest of the Beginners rushed into the gym as a hurried crowd before turning around and slamming the door shut. Their eyes were wide and they heaved frenzied gasps of air.
"Soooo… it's all gone to shit out there, huh?"
"Yep."
I sighed. "Whose fault was it?"
At once, everyone pointed at everyone, save Noman, who pointed at himself. Bless that pure cinnamon bun.
"My fault!?" Soul growled at Jade's finger. "I'm not the one who revealed their face! You couldn't keep the mask on for ten minutes!?"
"I was whacked upside the head!" Cobb defended. "And shouting at the ACC. Wow, that was a great plan."
"Personally, I think Jade's rivalry with Nephrait ruined our chances of hashing things out." Lenz said, his finger pointing squarely at her. Jade huffed.
"Well, at least I didn't try to use a corny speech to inspire hope! No offense Noman."
"No, I agree it was a little naïve." Noman wilted, still pointing at himself. "I just thought… well… given how terrified the ACC is making everyone, someone would stand up to them."
At once, their arguments were drowned out by the sound of Sandra's slow, sarcastic clap. "Wonderful performances, all of you, but in case you're too ignorant to notice, we're hard at work training. So if you're here to hide out from the authorities, you may as well turn around and get out." Her sclerae flashed dark at the end.
"Sandra, be nice." I admonished. With my arms still limp, I suffused my voice with as much disapproval I could muster. It worked, Sandra averting her gaze to stare at the far wall. "So Akasha hates us now? And what's this about the ACC?"
"Nephrait stole my cutlass and framed me for a murder rampage last night." Jade explained with a scowl. "The ACC is all about framing people, and Nephrait and Councilman McGahn are at the center of it. They tried to arrest us and, in the scuffle, Cobb's identity got revealed. We had an extra days before the news got out, but it doesn't matter. Now we're all wanted."
"All except for Floyd." Sandra interjected. "They'll think twice about chasing him down if they know what's good for them."
"So, wait, are you saying all the arrests the ACC has done are—"
"As fake as a leather shovel, yes." Soul grumbled. "McGahn's been using victims of the cult who can fight, only to make more victims out of innocent people who can't fight." Soul glared at his own hands. "I only got tricked into killing a few, but it's gotta be worse for guys like Captain Obsidian. He actually thinks he's doing the right thing, and it pisses me off!" He lashed out with a sweeping motion. "We need to stop the ACC."
I pressed my mouth into a thin line. Soul was clearly agitated and now wouldn't be the time to point how another of Brett's leads turned out to be misinformed. True, there were cultist arrests, but only on the surface. The suspects should have been investigated more closely, and not by the corrupt ACC.
"Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us."
"There's more." Cobb spoke up. "We have an idea where Arquero went—"
"Shouldn't we forget about the books?" I snapped. "We should focus all of our resources on this ACC issue."
"Not without our books." Noman and Lenz chimed, a united front.
Cobb hesitated. "Look, we're close. We'll finish up and be with you guys. I promise."
I held Cobb's gaze for a good while before taking a glance to Soul. He didn't look happy about diverting our forces either. But, hearing that it wouldn't take much longer, he seemed to take exception. Just this once.
"…Finish it tonight." I threw out, looking back to Cobb, Lenz, and Noman. "Tonight's the last night you waste on this… and the last night for my Hacker training." Sandra's lip was a thin line, but she made no argument. Neither did the others. "Tomorrow, we deal with the ACC full out. No more distractions."
"Deal." Cobb held up a hand in promise and crossed his hand over his heart twice. "You have my word."
I exhaled loudly, calming myself down. I could feel a bit of smoke leave me, not unrelated to the anger that fueled my MultiAura. Fearing it would skewer everybody, I thought happier thoughts, taking my mind off Herobrine and his sinister machinations.
New Hacker powers, after all, were fueled by strong emotions.
"So, Cobbert," Lenz spoke tentatively, "what is this about a lead on Arquero's whereabouts?"
"Ah, right. Well, that ACC member we talked with said Arquero was in league with Alexicon, the librarian from the Akashic Records."
"Former Akashic Records. The place was burned to the ground." Noman noted.
"Maybe, but the guards think Alexicon had a second secret library she could have escaped to. And since Arquero made it a point to enter the city as soon as he stole our books, I'm thinking it's hidden within this mesa. Somewhere."
"But where would we even begin to look to find it?"
At once, Cobb, turned to the female Hacker of the room. "Sandra, ma'am? You said you had a Hack that could see through walls."
Sandra's eyes widened before her eyebrows knitted down into a terrifying scowl and her sclerae darkened. Smoke poured from her eyes and she seemed to tower over Cobb as she advanced upon him.
"How dare you presume I would use my gifts to help you?" She hissed, more outraged than I had ever seen. Jade moved to intercede, but Cobb held up a hand, keeping her back.
"I've developed my Hacks through years of rigorous training, tempering, and mastering of my thoughts and emotions."
"…This is what mastered emotions look like, ma'am?"
"SILENCE!" Smoke pulsed at her words. "If Winslow were here, he would kill you where you stand for your presumption and insolence! You should be grateful I don't turn you into a stain on this floor! I would never, not in a million years, use my Hack for one so lowly as you!"
There was a beat of silence. Then…
"Sandra, could you please use your X-Ray eyes to help them find this Akashic Records thing?"
Instantly, the smoke extinguished and Sandra turned to Floyd with a warm smile. "Of course, brother. Anything for you."
If she felt any frustration from doing the very thing she swore never to do, she didn't show it. Meanwhile, Cobb and the others could only hesitantly look to one another at the sudden shift in demeanor.
Thinking it was better to ask Sandra for a favor through me, Lenz sidled up beside me and explained what they were looking for.
"It should be a large library, bigger than you can imagine, containing an infinite number of chests to store books, most likely. Maybe some bookshelves for appearance. If you can find Arquero or Alexicon's names, even better."
I relayed it all to Sandra, who nodded confidently, and, in the equivalent of flexing her eyes, allowed smoke to pour forth and surround her. Her eyes took on a sharper focus as smoke gathered around them, and she looked out and past us, taking in every detail of the world which we couldn't see.
"Found it." She stated simply, pointing out towards a wall and angled down. "Two-hundred blocks in that direction, one-hundred-fifty blocks down. Right underneath Indrad Rock."
"Indrad Rock?" Cobb asked.
"That's that archway." Jade made a rainbow with her two fingers. "The King lives there. It's the equivalent of the Central District in Ringwood."
"Wait, but wasn't that…" Cobb paused, thinking back. "She wouldn't have built a backup library right under the ruins of the old one… would she? That's literally the second place anyone would look."
"And it will be where we look next." Lenz nodded. "If Arquero and Alexicon are truly working with one another, finding the hidden Akashic Records will lead us straight to the two of them and our missing books."
"But how are we going to get to it? It's buried over a hundred meters underground."
"We will just have to dig. The tunnels from the toll gates run within the mesa. Maybe we could—"
"That won't be necessary." Sandra interrupted, pointing at something else we couldn't see. "There appears to be a rail system that connects the library to the surface. It comes up at an abandoned store a few blocks from here. The sign's faded… Naak Ke Niche Miner's Anonymous."
"That's a big help." Cobb nodded. "Thank you, ma'am."
"Please. I'm not doing it for you."
There was another beat of silence.
"Thank you, Sandra."
"Oh, anytime, brother."
"Well, we'll get out of your hair then. Come on guys—"
"Actually…" I called out, stopping Cobb. "Can I have a word with you, Cobb? In private."
"Yeah, sure." I herded Cobb over to the corner of the gym, away from Sandra and the others, who had begun to talk amongst themselves. "What's on your mind?"
I kept my voice low. "Winslow left to warn the Hack Clan about Carys."
"He did?" I felt angry at how quickly he smiled. "That's great news! Carys better watch her back. I wouldn't want those guys after—"
"So you did tip off Sandra."
"Well, yeah." He replied casually. I bit back a shout.
"Why would you tell them that?"
"Because it's the truth, Floyd, and they deserve to know—"
"And do they also deserve to know what you did to Alec in Halstatt?"
Cobb's good mood suddenly evaporated. "Floyd, that's… that's not the same…"
"Really? Then maybe you can explain it to me." It sounded to me like Cobb was a hypocrite.
"Carys is the enemy." He spoke deliberately. "She will stop at nothing to kill us. You, me, Jade. We're all nothing more than corpses to her. And she's already gone after the Hackers. She's made enemies of them. Letting them know about her is just… just…"
"Making them do your dirty work." I finished in disgust. "You know, at first, I couldn't fathom why you'd side with Lenz and Noman over these books, but now I get it. You're just like Herobrine."
Cobb staggered as if struck, clutching at his chest and looking at me dubiously. "Wh-What did you just say…? I… am… nothing like him!"
"You're manipulating the Hackers into taking out Carys, just as Herobrine manipulated the Hackers into regicide. What's the difference between that and this?"
"I'm not… you think I'm some kind of lunatic who summons monsters and connives in the shadows!? No!" He threw his arms out. "Carys is the lunatic. If anyone's like him it's her. She's ruthless and diabolical. The Hackers are our best chance at beating her and you know it!"
"All I know is that we've met every challenge that came our way by relying on one another, watching each other's backs, and facing our foes head on." I said with certainty. "But apparently, I was the only one who believed we could beat Carys too."
"Floyd…" Cobb reached out, but I stepped back.
"You do what you gotta do." I raised my hands, showing I wanted nothing further to do with steering the Hackers towards Carys. "I hope you feel proud when the Hackers haul in Carys' Head. I'm sure Herobrine felt some sick satisfaction using them like pawns on a chessboard."
Without another glance at the fisherman, I left him. The parallels Cobb shared with Herobrine fed an inner fire of anger and frustration, and I could feel the smoke tingling at the surface of my skin, just waiting to be unleashed.
I tried to hang onto those feelings, knowing it would be crucial to wielding MultiAura.
Unbeknownst to me, a pair of smoky eyes was watching our conversation through the walls, reading our lips, and feeling a similar boiling anger just beneath her skin.
[Cobb]
'You're just like Herobrine.'
As if hearing my teacher was a monster wasn't bad enough, now I was being told by my first friend that I was just like him.
He's… he can't mean that. He's just angry. I tried to rationalize. He thinks I'm using the Hackers, b-but this isn't the same. I'm not the same! We're as different as night and day.
I walked as if in a trance, barely listening to Soul and Jade as they talked. What did they just ask me for?
"Yeah… sure… okay…" I agreed without knowing.
"You sure?" Jade asked, then tilted her head. "Cobb, are you okay?"
"Yeah… I'm…"
"Alright, good luck with your pointless mission, then." Soul bulldozed past us. Wait, why was he leaving? Where was he going?
"We'll be back before long." Jade promised, following after him. Wait, no, why was she going with him?
"What's happening?" I asked dumbly to which Noman answered.
"Jade's gonna see about getting her cutlass back and Soul's going with her to dig up dirt on the ACC. If they can prove Nephrait stole her cutlass, maybe we can convince Captain Obsidian that McGahn is lying to him."
"Wait, but that's… that's a dangerous idea. We can't let them go off on their own."
"But you just gave them your approval." Lenz pointed out, making me balk.
"I… I wasn't really listening. We have to catch up to them and—"
"I'll watch out for them after I finish my training." Floyd spoke up, not bothering to look at me. "I can take care of it, so just worry about your precious books."
"Floyd…"
"You better hurry." Sandra actually grabbed my hand out of the air, squeezing tightly. Her smile had a pinched quality to it. "Tarry too long and the ACC will sniff you out."
I winced as the bones in my wrist creaked, only for Sandra to let go and steer Floyd away from us. The blue-nette let her, wanting to get absorbed into training once again. The dismissal was clear.
I shut my eyes and led the others out of the gym.
"What was that about?" Lenz asked.
"Nothing." I lied, still thinking about Floyd's hurtful words… and Herobrine.
The Founder of the Endward Cult who doomed his own Kingdom by summoning a catastrophic monster. A cold-blooded killer who manipulated Hackers into killing the Kings and murdered his own spawn brother.
Spawn… brother…
My eyes slid to Noman.
He spawned right after me… just like Notch spawned right after Herobrine…
No, that… that was crazy talk. Noman and I, we disagreed, but never did I want to kill him. I only killed in self-defense. I cared about my friends. What about Herobrine? He killed the people he spawned with. Did he even have any friends? I don't think so. Just because I read from his books didn't mean I was like the guy. Floyd was just angry. That's all.
I'd prove I was nothing like him. After we got the books back and placated Lenz and Noman, that is.
With that in mind, I focused on the directions Sandra had given us.
Navigating the Akashic streets during the day when everyone was after us sounded harder than it actually was. Akasha was down to a skeleton population and maybe half of them were guards or ACC members. That meant there were fewer eyes to track us, but also that we'd stick out like a sore thumb walking the streets.
So we used the back-streets, moving from building to building, staying in the shadows. It made what should have been a jaunt a couple of blocks long into a tedious trek. Often we were forced to double back when a stray bystander walked by, and once or twice we had to wait a good hour while ACC members filed past, searching for us.
It took a while, but we reached the mining store undetected. The sign read Naak Ke Niche Miner's Anonymous. Miner's Anonymous for short. Just as Sandra said, the place looked abandoned. Glass display windows were replaced with planks and the front door was missing.
"This is the place." Noman whispered. The three of us slipped inside just as a patrol of ACC members were heard around the corner. We pressed our backs against the wall, listening for them to pass. Once they had, we took a closer look around.
"It's so dark." I rummaged in my backpack for a torch, but Lenz stopped me.
"If we create a light source, we will only invite suspicion. This store is supposed to be abandoned." The engineer glanced around, lifting his tinted glasses to see through the darkness. "We are looking for a hidden rail system. It is most likely revealed through a lever or button. Most hidden redstone contraptions are on the bottom floor to allow for ample space for wiring. Start your search there."
That narrowed things down. No point in searching the second floor. It was a good thing we had a redstone whiz.
The Miner's Anonymous store was tough to navigate by the daylight filtering in through the doorway. There was a counter and a few chests with signs designating them for rails, ores, tools, and minecarts. Of course, all of them were cleaned out… save for the minecarts.
"This is a good sign." Lenz pointed to the minecart chest, taking one out. "Someone had to have stocked this chest. Arquero, most likely."
"Ow!" Noman yelped, hopping on one leg and holding his foot. "Swizzle sticks! I bumped my foot on something. Can't we put some light down?"
"Not on your life. Also, swizzle sticks? Really?" I walked over and felt around for what Noman bumped against. A cool, metallic surface greeted my hand. It felt heavy. "An anvil… hey, I can use this."
I reached into my backpack for the Sweeping Edge III Book Jade got for me. I placed my diamond sword on the anvil, followed by the book. There was a moment of silence, as if the anvil was asking me if I wanted to go through with my choice. As soon as I nodded, the enchanted book vanished, its magical glow transferring to the diamond sword and granting it the mysterious Sweeping Edge enchantment. The enchantment cost me six levels, reducing me down to twenty-seven.
Brain: This better be an amazing enchantment.
Heart: Jade got it for us, of course it's good. It's filled with her love.
Stomach: Blergh.
I gave the sword a few test swings, but nothing amazing happened. It felt like usual. I stowed it away, hoping I'd have the chance to test it on some Mobs later… or ACC members that got too close for comfort.
"Hey, here's something." Noman called us over to the back counter where three item frames were plastered along the wall, each one framing a stick. "Why do you think they framed sticks?"
"Oh! I have seen this before." Lenz adjusted his glasses as he leaned towards the item frames. "This is a frame combination lock."
"A what?"
"Items in item frames can be rotated. What most people fail to realize, however, is that a different orientation of the item outputs a different redstone signal, so long as the frames are attached to comparators." Lenz tilted the stick on the center frame so that it was facing diagonal, then tilted the stick on the left frame so that it stuck straight up. "Hmmm. Very intricate. Give me a few hours to—"
I jammed my sword into the wall and splintered the sandstone until I revealed the redstone hidden behind.
"Or you could just do that and disregard all the hard work that went into this." Lenz said flatly before pushing me aside to peer into the hole I had made. He hummed to himself, shifting the sticks in the frames and watching how the redstone lit along its path or diminished. Within a minute, he had the combination and a pair of pistons retracted by the stairs, revealing a minecart rail.
"We are on the right track." Lenz smiled.
"Did you just make a—?"
"Grab a cart. We should cover our tracks too. We don't want anyone discovering this hidden passage and coming after us." Noman suggested. We all agreed and soon Lenz repaired the redstone mechanism, not only making it look like we never broke anything, but making the combination harder than ever.
"I would like to see someone solve that." He declared proudly before we placed our carts on the rails and disembarked.
My last experience in a minecart was in Daymonte when I was following Lenz into that Stronghold, so I wasn't exactly eager to be doing it again. Thankfully, the cart ride seemed to be a straight, descending shot, leading the three of us deeper and deeper into the mesa Akasha was built upon. Deeper and deeper we went, the only light being from some redstone lamps.
We passed sandstone and hardened clay, pillars built out of wooden logs, glowing rails that boosted our speed, detector rails that sent out a warning signal whenever we crossed it…
Oh, wait…
"I think they know we're coming." I said pointlessly as something akin to an alarm started to go off. The element of surprise was out.
There was another turn and a grinding stop as we finally reached the end of the line. Noman and I clambered out, helping a wobbly-kneed Lenz last. We were in some kind of station chamber for minecarts. And as we walked through the door to the next room, we were met with a breathtaking sight.
A massive library of wooden bookshelves and sandstone. It was as big as a football field and twice as impressive. Sandstone stalactites grew on the ceiling, dripping down like razor-sharp icicles. There were rails all over from which minecarts zipped left and right, carrying things like chests and hoppers. Neat signs were arranged, not only on the shelves, but in the middle of the aisles like road signs for the lost. They divided the library into sections; History, Philosophy, Fictional Tales, Biographies, Fighting Tactics, Item Recipes, you name it. There was even a section stocked with the latest newsbooks to catalogue current events
Lenz wasn't kidding when he called the Akashic Records the crowning jewel of libraries. The original may have been burnt to a crisp, but this replacement looked to be just as good if not better.
While Lenz and Noman took in the sights, I spotted a directory sign that had me glaring.
[Herobrine Section]
I kicked at the base of the sign and then the blaring alarm was silenced. It put the three of us on edge, wondering if the alarm had just ran its course, or someone somewhere shut it off. We took defensive positions, pressing our backs to one another and drawing our weapons.
"Arquero uses Invisibility." Lenz noted. "He could be watching us. Stalking us like a predator."
"Nothing that dramatic." A voice as smooth as silk commented from the dark. A splash potion was thrown and Noman had to raise his shield, taking the brunt of the effect. His slowed movements hinted at what he was afflicted with.
Lenz fired two quick shots at where the potion came from, but caught nothing for his troubles. Keeping track of movement and sound was hopeless with all the minecarts speeding by.
"How'd you find this place?" Arquero demanded from the darkness. "Does anyone else know?"
"If you want to talk so bad, show yourself." Noman tried to negotiate. "We're only here for the books you stole, Book Burglar."
"Oh yeah?" His voice echoed off the bookshelves. "Alexicon was ecstatic when I brought those in. I think she's been looking for them. They're safer in her hands than yours, especially with the ACC on the prowl. You can thank me by leaving."
"Thank you?"
"You're welcome."
"You stowed away on our airship where we aided your escape. You repaid us by stealing what was ours."
"I was doing you a favor. You saw what the ACC mooks were like. The mere mention of Herobrine's name gets them whispering prayers to Tanner's spirit."
Who's spirit?
"Just give us the stupid books and you'll never see us again—"
"BITETH THY TONGUE, KNAVE!"
A thunderous voice broke the battle tension and there was a loud thud followed by Arquero appearing laid out on the ground, groaning.
"Oh, you've done it now…" He bemoaned, plugging his ears with his fingers.
From behind a bookshelf, a tiny, freckled woman with long, violet hair and thick glasses marched towards us. Though she lacked a weapon and was as tall as a stump, her squared shoulders and deep scowl had Lenz and I taking a step backward.
"How darest thee calleth books no more brain than stone!" The woman said with vitriol, her words flowery and odd to my ears. She walked right up to me and jabbed my tunic-covered chest with a dainty finger. "I shall not suff'r furth'r denouncement of this most wondrous library by thy spiteful mind and muck-cov'r'd tongue! Learneth respect 'r leaveth!"
"…Huh?" The words sounded even stupider coming out of my mouth compared to her language.
She raised an eyebrow, her hands on her hips. "Oh? Hast mine own way with w'rds left thee speechless? Hast the pen best'd the sw'rd? What art thee, a dullard, beside the booketh mast'r h'rself, Alexicon."
That part, at least, I understood as an insult towards me combined with an introduction for herself. So this was the librarian presiding over the Akashic Records. Alexicon.
She had silver eyes, violet hair that reached the small of her back, a pale freckled face with thick glasses. She wore a simple blue blouse with black sleeves and a white skirt. Her belt and backpack were purest white and packed with books.
Yeah, this was definitely a librarian.
"Er, we mean no harm." Lenz piped up, causing Alexicon's attention to snap to him. He had his bow put away, his hands raised in peace. "We are here to reclaim our books."
She raised a brow, but Arquero, for better or worse, interceded.
"They're the ones I got the latest Herobrine books from."
Her thick glasses seemed to sparkle before she took Lenz's hands in hers. "A fellow bibliophile! A bulwark to standeth 'gainst the ACC." She smiled brightly. "Thy books w're a fine addition to mine own collection."
"Er… thank you." Lenz replied, awkwardly wanting his hands back. "B-but they were not just my books. They are Cobb's and Nowhere's. My name is Lenzington. We came here because we wanted our books back."
Alexicon tilted her head, glancing at Cobb. "That fool? Art thee sure that gent ev'r did hold a booketh? His air is yond of a simple illit'rate."
"At least most of Minecraftia can understand me without subtitles!" I shot back.
"Hark, he keens liketh a Ghast."
That one word had me flashing back to Shansi and that gruesome hybrid. Instantly, the fight was taken out of me and I felt sick. I tried again, this time calmer.
"The books were mine… How to Kill Stuff for Numb Nuts and Advanced Mob-Slaying. And for your information, bookworm, I read them over a hundred times. I know them by heart. But…" I grimaced and Alexicon took notice. "That was before I found out the kind of guy Herobrine was. Anyway, they're Lenz's books now, so give them back to him and I won't 'taint' your library anymore."
Alexicon stared at me hard, her silver eyes narrowed behind her thick glasses. She held her gaze for a solid minute. In that time, Noman recovered from the Potion of Slowness and stood up.
Finally, Alexicon turned on her heel and marched past the sign indicating the 'Herobrine Section' of the library. She beckoned us with a flick of her head.
Even Arquero seemed off put by Alexicon's behavior, but if she was getting us our books, we had no other choice but to follow.
We followed the librarian as she marched past bookshelves that touched the sandstone ceiling. Despite the turns and bends, Alexicon seemed to know exactly where she was going, occasionally stopping for minecarts to speed by. Lenz almost got run over by one when he dawdled. Arquero kept an eye on us, following at the back. He had splash potions at the ready and was just waiting for the slightest twitch of aggression.
After a few minutes, we reached a section of the library unlike any we'd seen. It was reinforced with iron bars and some kind of maroon-colored block. The sign at the top showed that this was the Herobrine Section.
Inside, the décor was darker and the temperature dropped a few degrees. The bookshelves were smaller and they were fewer chests. No rails or speeding carts in this section.
Past a darkened shelf, we came across a raised platform, like an altar. At the top was a lone chest.
Alexicon ascended the altar, commanding us to stay back, and when she reached the top, she clicked open the chest and rummaged inside before withdrawing some books.
A lot of books. Had she made copies?
With the books in hand, she descended back down and handed them out.
She gave Noman his Artifact List back, her eyes watching his carefully and making him swallow audibly. How much did she know about the book's contents?
To Lenz, she presented copies of the Mob books. The engineer thanked her for returning what was stolen.
Then she came up to me.
"I don't want—"
She silenced me by shoving the full weight of the stacked books into my hands. I teetered on my toes, trying to balance the books as best I could. When I got it under control I shifted them to the side and glared at the librarian who offered a wry smile in return.
"I didst enjoyeth the prequels, but one good turn des'rves anoth'r."
"Can't you speak English for ten seconds?" I groused. "You can take these two books back."
"Two? Can thee counteth?"
I opened my mouth to argue, only to pause when the Mob books slid around a bit. My grip was on the corner, so they fanned out, showing their titles to all.
How to Kill Stuff for Numb Nuts.
Advanced Mob-Slaying.
…
Mobs of the Nether by Herobrine.
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 [Sweeping Edge III], 1 Banner {Beginners}, 64 Cobblestone, 61 Cobblestone, 64 Gravel, 64 Gravel, 64 Gravel, 4 Gravel, 3 Feathers, 1 Bed, 36 Dirt, 7 Coal, 24 Flint, 12 Jungle Wood Logs, 56 Jungle Wood Planks, 2 Sticks, 7 Torches, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Clock, 1 Lava Bucket, 1 String, 60 Emeralds, 2 Ender Chests, 4 Snowballs, 9 Gunpowder, 12 Cooked Mutton, 27 Rotten Flesh, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {How to Kill Stuff for Numb Nuts}, 1 Book {Advanced Mob-Slaying}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Nether}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}
[EXP: 27]
Inventory (Floyd): 1 Mob Head {Creeper}, 1 Diamond Chestplate [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Leather Pants [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III] {Weak}, 1 Leather Boots [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Pickaxe, 3 Iron Ingots, 47 Dirt, 1 Fishing Rod, 1 Furnace, 18 Cooked Mutton, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Minecart, 1 Bed, 1 Boat, 1 Emerald, 1 Iron Sword {Weak}, 1 Diamond Helmet [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Leggings [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Boots [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Leggings, 16 Gunpowder, 4 Ender Pearls, 1 Splash Potion of Invisibility {6:00}, 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 Pants [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III] {Weak}, 1 Leather Boots [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III], 1 Bow, 1 Shears, 2 Levers, 5 Redstone Torches, 1 Bed, 9 Redstone Repeaters, 3 Redstone Comparators, 23 Redstone, 17 Blocks of Redstone, 2 Hoppers, 3 Pistons, 2 Sticky Pistons, 48 Cobblestone, 1 Minecart, 1 Compass, 25 Gunpowder, 23 Arrows, 16 Jungle Wood Planks, 1 Crafting Table, 28 Cooked Mutton, 64 Emeralds, 16 Sugar Cane, 8 Paper, 5 Ink Sacs, 3 Leather, 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}, 1 Paper {Akasha Entry Pass}
[EXP: 15]
Inventory (Soul): 1 Diamond Axe [Sharpness V], 1 Iron Pickaxe, 64 Iron Ingots, 52 Iron Ingots, 20 Flint, 12 Gold Ingots, 1 Milk, 1 Diamond Helmet [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, 64 Gravel, 64 Gravel, 64 Gravel, 18 Gravel, 32 Jungle Wood Planks, 1 Armor Stand, 2 Ender Pearls, 47 Cooked Mutton, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Akasha Entry Pass}
[EXP: 27]
Inventory (Jade): 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection IV], 1 Leather Tunic [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III] {Weak}, 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV], 1 Leather Boots [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III] {Weak}, 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection IV], 1 Iron Sword, 1 Bed, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 16 String, 21 Cooked Mutton, 14 Torches, 30 Jungle Wood Planks, 64 Cobblestone, 64 Cobblestone, 30 Emeralds, 24 Obsidian, 2 Buckets, 1 Compass, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Clock, 9 Ender Chests, 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}, 1 Paper {Akasha Entry Pass}
[EXP: 36]
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] {Weak}, 1 Flint and Steel, 1 Bow [Infinity], 28 Birch Wood Planks, 34 Iron Ingots, 18 Sticks, 1 Bucket, 1 Crafting Table, 10 Cooked Mutton, 4 Ender Pearls, 1 Potion of Healing II, 1 Potion of Healing II, 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 Paper {Akasha Entry Pass}, 1 Compass, 1 Arrow, 3 Sugar, 14 Bookshelves, 6 Enchanted Golden Apples, 1 Diamond Helmet, 1 Diamond Leggings, 1 Diamond Boots, 64 Emeralds, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 18 Bones, 64 Gravel, 64 Gravel, 64 Gravel, 49 Gravel, 9 Flint
[EXP: 25]
AN: Insert Gravity Falls Meme Here. "Finally, I have them all."
Yeah, the people on the Discord predicted this, but the third book in the Herobrine series was planned since Chapter 1. Herobrine wa thorough and catalogued every existing Mob at the time of 1.8. It's currently 1.11 and there are Mobs Herobrine hasn't even seen before, but it's not like he can write about them.
Also, meet Alexicon. The second I wrote the first line of dialogue for her, I thought to myself, 'How can I make this character different?' Then it hit me. She's a librarian, but she's also well-read. Why not have her speak in Shakespeare? By God, you're going to hear a lot of words ending in 'th' coming out of her mouth. Good luck understanding her. I read Shakespeare books a lot in school (Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, MacBeth, Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest) and they all had those little side notes that told the reader what the hell anyone was saying or doing. Usually it alluded to an obscure reference or pun.
Anyway, Alexicon's speech pattern is gonna look a lot like that. At least it'll be easy to tell who's talking.
Leave a Fav, Follow, Review, PM, check out the forum, Discord, Minecraft Server, or whatever.