Herobrine's Message (26 page)

“Oh, I get it, you thought I died,” Sirus replied with a short laugh. “Yeah, I thought that, too, but I respawned, and I saw somebody duck into the woods and I figured that the hill probably wasn't safe, so I decided that I wanted to go out into the middle of the Ender Desert because I thought that could be fun, but then I got hungry and tried to eat part of a cactus, and it kind of caused me to hallucinate to the point where I imagined that I was at a wedding between a cantaloupe and—”

“I'm sorry, but do we have to talk about this now?” Charlie cut in urgently, jerking his head toward the blasts and shouts of the ongoing fight down the cave.

“Seriously though, dude,” Sirus continued, as he got into position to help Charlie up, “you must have done something pretty bad to that leg of yours, 'cause it's totally busted, gone south, practically useless, comparable to the poop of—”

“Okay, I get it, Sirus,” Charlie cut in, irritated. “I'm already frustrated enough without your commentary.”

Sirus merely shrugged and pulled Charlie to his feet. Charlie attempted to take a step forward, but his bad foot couldn't take the slightest bit of pressure without him screaming in agony. Sirus noticed his suffering and placed Charlie's arm around his shoulder, slowly helping him follow the horde of Adorian Villagers that had surged down the cave and toward the ongoing fights.

Look at me,
Charlie thought to himself bitterly.
I can't even walk by myself. I'm nothing but a cripple now.

As they reached the end of the cave, Charlie saw that, to his confusion, there was no fighting. Stan, Kat, Charlie, Cassandrix, and Commander Crunch were all standing around, looking exhausted and in various states of injury, but the assassins had vanished.

“Where'd they go?” Charlie inquired to Commander Crunch as Sirus helped him sit down on a loose stone block.

“They warped away, lad,” the Commander replied as he nursed a blast wound on his arm. “As soon as Sirus 'n' his scallywags arrived, the other scallywags realized that they were outnumbered, 'n' couldn't win. Th' poppet that goes by th' name o' Enderchick grabbed her mates, 'n' they all warped away. T' where, we can only venture guesses, but I doubt they'll be comin' back anytime soon.”

Charlie nodded in understanding and looked around at the scene around them. Sirus and Stan were in deep conversation, Stan's eyes wide, as if he were talking to a ghost. The hostages were wandering around the cave, some of them tending the wounds that had been inflicted during the fight. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the back of the cave, and two of Sirus's followers came forward, holding Leonidas with his arms behind his back.

“Hey, what do ya think you're doin'?” Leonidas demanded,
clearly too tired from the fight to resist them.

“We found another one of them, Sirus,” one of the two players said, and Sirus turned to face them. Immediately, his jaw dropped.

“Leonidas of RAT1! Force him down, men!”

And with that, the two players delivered sharp kicks to the back of Leonidas's knees, forcing Leonidas to fall to the ground, a grunt of agony escaping his mouth as Sirus loaded an arrow into his bow.

“I'll take care of this,” he announced heroically, and he was about to let the arrow fly when Stan realized what was happening. He knocked the bow out of Sirus's hand, sending the arrow flying down the mine.

“President Stan, what're you doing? This is a dangerous criminal who needs to be executed!” Sirus cried out.

“Sirus, calm down, it's okay! Leonidas is on our side now. He's realized the errors of his ways and he's fighting for Element City.”

Sirus looked at Stan incredulously for a moment, and then raised an eyebrow in skepticism.

“President Stan, with all due respect, this player is responsible for tons of terrible things that happened during the rebellion against King Kev, and he's killed more people than you'll ever realize as a part of RAT1, so are you sure you don't want me to kill him?”

“I am positive!” Stan barked in fury. “I'm granting Leonidas a complete presidential pardon for his past actions. He's been traveling with me for weeks, and has proved to me time and time again that he's sorry for what he did under King Kev and the Noctem Alliance. Now, he's willing to give everything that he has to make up for what he did in the past! So I'll thank you for not being rude to him!”

Sirus opened his mouth, and then closed it again. He gave a sideways glance at Leonidas, who had pulled himself to his feet and was shooting a dirty look at Sirus. Finally, Sirus spoke again, his voice still sounding suspicious.

“If you say so, President Stan,” Sirus replied slowly, and with that he turned to work on Charlie's bad leg.

“Thanks, man,” Leonidas said, smiling at Stan for a moment before going to tend to a burn wound left on him by one of Lord Marrow's attacks.

“Don't mention it,” Stan replied offhandedly, barely paying attention as he came to a startling realization.

Within the next day, Stan would be at the underground bunker of Element City, which held his friends and all his citizens. They would surely be overjoyed to see him, along with Charlie, Kat, Cassandrix, and Commander Crunch. However, he had never considered how the citizens of Element City would react to Leonidas.

As clear as it was that Leonidas had had a change of heart
now, Stan still couldn't change the terrible things that Leonidas had done in the past. And as he led his citizens forward in the greatest challenge that Element City had ever faced, Stan wondered just how they would take it when they found out that he had granted a full presidential pardon to one of King Kev's most powerful soldiers.

A
s the frigid winds of the eternal blizzard tore through the streets of the Nocturia complex, the Noctem Capitol Building stood tall and looming. Throughout the war, the Elementia forces hadn't come close to scratching the capital city of the Nation of the Noctem Alliance, and the Capitol was proof of that. The building was totally untouched, and still the crowning jewel of the Noctem Empire with its gothic stone-brick block design, gold and lapis lazuli block accents, and beacon blocks that shot radiant pillars of light into the sky. The building was also by far the largest and tallest in Nocturia—the highest spire of the building extended out of the base castle and far into the sky.

Atop this spire, a single light could be seen. Torchlight shone from an open window, the only pinpoint of luminescence in the midst of the raging snowstorm. And it was within this one window atop the highest tower of the Noctem Capitol Building that Lord Tenebris sat on his throne of obsidian and quartz, deep in thought.

Lord Tenebris had his eyes closed, yet he could quite clearly see through the eyes of one of the Withers, patrolling the skies over Element City. Lord Tenebris had been experimenting in private, drawing energy
from the server itself to bolster his power and discovering more and more new skills by the day. However, this particular new ability that he had discovered had proven to be the most useful by far. On a whim, Lord Tenebris could borrow the eyes of any player or mob, provided, of course, that he knew where they were, and see all that they could see.

In the past few weeks, during the Noctem Alliance's drive to take Element City, this power had been especially helpful. Between clairvoyance and his ability to speak using telepathy, Lord Tenebris had been able to have direct control over the troops on the battlefield through the eyes of General Drake, while still staying hidden away in Nocturia and Fungarus. And he knew that it was for the best that he remain hidden. After all, though the Noctem Alliance now had the upper hand in the war, fear was still by far their greatest asset.

To be honest, Lord Tenebris quite enjoyed the feeling of commanding the troops from far off and tactically maneuvering them to ensure total domination over a region. Furthermore, he was also well aware of how necessary this step was if he truly wanted control over the server. Lord Tenebris knew that, if he wanted to, he could destroy all the Elementia forces in a matter of minutes using just his own abilities. However, he fancied himself a wise leader, and he was well aware of the vast difference between destroying all
the enemy forces and winning the war.

Lord Tenebris saw through the eyes of the Wither that soldiers, clad in black, with bows, weapons, and potions at the ready, patrolled the streets of Element City, securing them in the name of the Noctem Alliance. He gave a sigh of satisfaction. Finally, after all these months, Element City was back in the hands of the players who had earned it, those who had toiled and struggled to raise the city after starting from nothing but a meadow.

At long last, they had done it. The Noctem Alliance had conquered Elementia.

One thing still tainted Lord Tenebris's perfect victory, however. Although the Noctem Alliance now had military control over the entire server, they had yet to capture Stan2012. Lord Tenebris actually found it rather surprising. Drake knew exactly what Lord Tenebris was going to do to him should Stan return to Element City. If there was one thing that was certain, it was that Drake would go to any lengths to save his own neck. When added to the fact that Drake had hired a group of trained assassins to track Stan down, Lord Tenebris found it difficult to believe that Drake hadn't delivered Stan to him yet.

Lord Tenebris stood up from his throne and stopped using his clairvoyance, looking once again into the plain stone brick–block room, flickering in the light of the torch.
The time had come, he decided. The military offensive was now over, and the Noctem Alliance had a strong foothold in Element City. There was no purpose in his staying in Nocturia any longer. It was time for him to return to the city that he had worked so long and hard to conquer.

Lord Tenebris took a deep breath, focused intently on the Council Room of Element Castle, and vanished in a puff of purple smoke.

G felt disgusted with himself as he dragged himself up the quartz stairs toward Tess's office. He still couldn't get the image out of his mind of the wounded recruit in a blue and green jumpsuit, lying on the ground and clutching the cut on his side. He had stepped in and declared the round of the sparring tournament over, and ordered that the fallen recruit be given medical attention, but the two soldiers overseeing him had cut him off. He could vividly remember the Noctem captain in the metallic Creeper costume staring him in the eye and growling those hateful words.

“If you're a true Noctem corporal, you'll tell him to finish the job right now.”

Despite the fact that every fiber of his body was telling him to stand up for the fallen recruit, G found himself unable to speak. Before he could, though, a messenger arrived and told G that Tess was looking for him. As G had left to make
his way to the stairs, the two corporals had turned back to the sparring recruits, and right before G turned a corner, he heard one of them say, “All right . . . finish him!”

G still couldn't get the sound of that last shout out of his head. He could only imagine what they were doing to the wounded player now . . . and here he was just walking away. Even if that player was in training for the Noctem Alliance, he didn't deserve the abuse and harassment that G was sure was coming his way. In fact, he had half a mind to turn around and go help that player, but he knew that he couldn't. Jayden had been willing to sacrifice his life to keep G in Nocturia, and there was no way that he was going to risk anything until he cured Mella and Stull, regardless of what the cost may be.

Finally, G reached the top of the staircase, and was standing at the threshold of General Tess's room. The room was beautifully designed. The walls were made out of quartz blocks fashioned into different patterns, the floor was carpeted with blue wool blocks, and the ceiling was covered in glowstone blocks. A fire burning eternally in a Netherrack fireplace projected a warm glow into the room, and picture frames, showing pixel-art paintings, hung on the walls. There were glass windows that revealed the howling storm outside, and behind a cedarwood plank desk sat General Tess, her diamond sword hanging in an item frame behind her.

“Greetings, ma'am,” G said automatically, suppressing
his self-loathing for the time being.

“You took a long time,” Tess retorted, not bothering to return the greeting. “Please try to be quicker next time, Corporal.”

“Yes, ma'am,” G replied, his disgust with himself now replaced with irritation at Tess.

“I have a task for you,” Tess continued. “I need you to patrol the grounds again.”

“Yes, ma'am,” G replied, glad that it was only a mundane task that was being asked of him, and he turned back down the stairs to go carry it out.

“Oh, and one more thing, Corporal,” Tess continued, sounding almost lazy. G turned around and watched as she reached into a chest next to her desk and pulled out a Potion of Slowness. “Tell Captain Zingster to execute those twenty Elementia prisoners today instead of tomorrow. Now that we've taken Element City, there's really no point in keeping hostages anymore.”

G's eyes widened, and he did all that he could to hold back a gasp of horror. Regardless, Tess still raised an eyebrow, setting her glass back down on the table and glaring at him.

“Do you have a problem with that, Corporal?”

“No, ma'am,” G replied quickly, the gears in his mind spinning as he tried to work out how he could possibly save these prisoners without arousing Tess's suspicion.

“Well then, get to it,” Tess ordered, taking another sip of potion as she reached into her desk a second time. G was about to go down the stairs when he paused for a moment.

All throughout his stay in Nocturia, G had spent hours upon hours with Tess. Because of her constant presence, incredibly high expectations of him, and casual talk as if they were the best of friends, G had felt incredibly awkward and hated every minute of it, but he had forced himself to do it for the sake of Element City. And he had done his job quite well, never letting on to his aversion to Tess, and always letting her feel like they were becoming close friends. And perhaps now would be the perfect time to try to get some payoff for all his hard work for the sake of rescuing those trapped players from Element City.

“Um . . . excuse me, ma'am?”

“Why are you still here, Corporal?” Tess asked in irritation as she glanced up. She had been searching for food in the chest, and hadn't realized that G hadn't left yet.

“Well, because I have a suggestion for you.”

“I don't want to hear it, Corporal. You have duties to attend to.”

“Please, ma'am, I think that it may be important.”

“Fine!” Tess shouted in frustration. “What do you want, Corporal? And make it fast. I have a lot of work to do, and so do you!”

G took a deep breath, and let it out before continuing.
“Well, it occurred to me that the war in Elementia is going to be over soon and it seems like we're on the verge of winning. I think that, if we're going to rule over the citizens in Element City again, perhaps we might be able to get more support from them if we were to be a bit lenient.”

“Oh?” Tess asked, her eyebrow raised suspiciously as she eyed G. “And how do you propose we do that, exactly?”

“My suggestion,” G replied tentatively, aware of how Tess was probably going to react to his proposal, “is that we don't execute the soldiers just yet. We hold them captive here until—”

“That is a preposterous idea.”

There was a moment of silence as Tess glared at G, and G struggled to hold his feelings in. He knew what he had to do, and even though he was aware that he was pushing his luck, he tried to press on.

“Well, the reason I think that is—”

“What are you trying to say, Corporal? That the atrocities that the soldiers of Elementia have committed during the war deserve to go unpunished?”

“No, of course not, but—”

“Then I see no reason why this conversation should continue.”

“Please, listen to me!” G exclaimed, something snapping in his head as he felt a surge of anger toward Tess for all the
wrong reasons. “I've been following you faithfully since the day I arrived here, and I've devoted my life to you. The least you could do is hear me out!”

Tess's face took on a dangerous look. “You're treading on thin ice, Corporal.”

“Please, General,” G said again, trying to curb the acid boiling in his stomach. “It would mean a lot to me if you would just allow me to—”

“I am your commanding officer, Corporal MasterBronze,” Tess shot back, standing up at her desk and giving him the evil eye, “and I am
this close
to having you executed for insubordination! Stand down right now!”

G stood still, his mouth still slightly open, and found himself unable to speak. As Tess had yelled at him, a startling realization had hit G like a train. He merely stood still for a moment as he flashed back to over a month ago, when he was standing in the hallway of Element Castle, enraged and hurt, and he had yelled . . .

“Get a move on!” Tess barked at him. “Are you just going to stand there all day? You have no idea how lucky you are that I haven't already ordered you out in front of the firing squad!”

G barely heard her. He was making his way down the quartz block stairs, back toward the group of recruits, his mind swimming in a vortex of realizations and guilt.

Since G had entered Nocturia, he had given barely any thought at all to Kat. The two of them were clearly done and over with, and with far more important things going on, the issue had been dormant in G's mind for quite some time. However, the last time he
had
thought about her, he was still under the impression that she was being unreasonable in not getting over their fight, and that she had been stupid to want to break it off in the first place, given how much attention he was lavishing on her.

Now, though, G found it amazing that, given everything General Tess had put him through since he had joined Nocturia, Kat hadn't come to his mind sooner. It hadn't occurred to him for a second, all this time, that the way that he had treated Kat, his former girlfriend and fellow council member, was disturbingly similar to the way that General Tess, the commanding officer of the organization that he had sworn to destroy, had treated him as an underling.

It felt like a void had opened in G's chest as memories came flooding back to him. All that time, he had thought that he had been an amazing boyfriend to Kat, and he was frustrated because he didn't feel like she was putting in as much effort as he was. But now, G could see quite clearly that he had been far too demanding of her, and incredibly disrespectful. She had agreed to go out with him, and continued to make an effort even when things got difficult while still
keeping sight of her responsibilities. But he had neglected his duties to the council, only wanting to spend time with her, and was infuriated when she hadn't done the same.

And to top it all off, he had only put up with Tess because he had to. Why Kat had put up with him at all, G could only guess . . .

G sat down on the stairs for a moment, overwhelmed. He had just snapped at Tess for something that he himself had done before. Because he had done that, Tess was now suspicious of him, and his cover would surely be blown soon. And if he was executed as a spy, not only would Mella and Stull never be saved, but G would never get a chance to return to Element City and let Kat know how sorry he was for what he had done to her.

G stood up, his stomach blazing with resolve. He knew what he had to do. It was do-or-die time now, and drastic actions were called for. All at once, an insane plan formulated in G's head, and he knew that he'd have to go through with it. If it worked, then not only would he spare the hostages' lives but free them as well, along with curing the NPC villagers and escaping the nightmarish Noctem Capitol. If the plan failed, then they would all die.