Herobrine's Message (57 page)

“But you . . .”

“Charlie, do you trust me?”

Charlie raised his eyebrows, his mouth hanging open
from his retort as Stan cut him off. For a moment, the two friends held each other's gaze. For so long now, they had had each other's backs, fighting off countless dangers and depending on each other to live to see the next day. And now here was Stan, asking Charlie if he trusted him to reform the server that they had worked so hard to win.

Charlie took a deep breath and, his gaze never wavering from Stan's eyes, nodded.

“Thank you,” Stan said, and with that, he stood up straight, looked over the furious crowd, and said in his booming, penetrating voice, “Silence, please.”

Once again, his voice seemed to have some mysterious influence over the players in the plaza, and their voices faded to silence.

“I would like to assure you all that I have put a lot of thought into what I'm asking you to do right now,” Stan said, a slight authoritative note to his voice. “I only want what is best for Elementia, and all who reside here. And to those of you who think that I might give you the short end of the stick because I disagree with your beliefs, you are mistaken. From this day on, I am loyal to no faction, but rather to the entire server, and all its players. I will do what I must to restore balance and order to this server, and I will only take action against a group if they threaten that balance.

“And so I repeat, once again: Only those who have been
playing in Elementia for a year or longer will be permitted to vote to see which group gains control over Element City.”

Stan raised his hand toward the execution platform and took a deep breath. A few Noctem soldiers cringed, imagining that he was about to attack them. Instead, the platform of wood blocks that they were standing on expanded, tripling in size instantaneously. One side of the platform extension was made entirely out of lapis lazuli blocks, while the other was made entirely out of iron blocks. Both expansions were the same size as the wood plank–block platform that they branched off from.

“Members of the Noctem Alliance, we'll start with you,” Stan said, looking at Spyro. “If you would like Element City to become a city of upper-level players alone, walk onto the platform of iron. If you would like it to become a city of players of all levels, walk onto the platform of lapis lazuli.”

Even before Stan had finished speaking, Spyro had begun to walk across the wooden platform, and by the time Stan had finished, he was already standing on the iron platform. Immediately, the entire group of Noctem soldiers trickled off the wooden stage to join Spyro on the platform of iron. As the players walked, Stan counted them and, with his operating powers, checked to see if they had in fact been in Elementia for a year or longer. Indeed, Stan saw that they all had, and by the time the last Noctem soldier had walked over onto the
platform, Stan had counted one hundred and four of them.

“All right,” Stan said, not surprised by this number. “Now, I invite all players dispersed among this crowd who have been in Elementia for a year or longer to please step forward and take your side.”

The crowd churned a bit as the older players snaked their way through the throng of newer players, finally reaching the front of the crowd and ascending the stairs onto the execution platform.

As Stan watched them pick sides, his heart lifted as a nearly unbroken stream of players banked a sharp right toward the lapis lazuli platform. They spread throughout the blue square of blocks like gas expanding into a container, almost faster than Stan could count. And yet, not all of them went to the right side. Stan counted an additional ten players who broke off from the stream and joined the iron platform that held the Noctem Alliance.

Stan was shocked. If those upper-level players hadn't been in his army, that meant that the Noctem Alliance had imprisoned them in Brimstone. Why would they possibly want to join their city? Then Stan reminded himself that this wasn't a city for just the Noctem Alliance—it was for anybody who agreed with the ideals of the Alliance as well. Stan supposed that there were indeed some players who agreed with the Alliance who still hadn't joined them.

After a minute or so, the stream of older players from the crowd waned into a trickle, and then stopped altogether. Stan had counted one hundred and fourteen on the iron side and one hundred and nine on the lapis lazuli side. The platform that held all the Noctem soldiers was larger. Stan's heart sank. He was about to announce this to the people when he noticed movement in the front row.

Stan looked down and he saw Leonidas, Ben, Bob, the Mechanist, Cassandrix, and Commander Crunch step onto the stairs. Stan imagined that they must have stayed behind to count how many players were on each side, and as he did the math for himself, his heart lifted. If all six of his friends went to the lapis lazuli side, they would outnumber the iron side by one, and they would get to keep Element City.

Stan watched, with a huge smile on his face, as Commander Crunch, Ben, Bob, Leonidas, and the Mechanist all walked proudly to the right and joined the lapis lazuli platform. Stan opened his mouth, and was about to declare that Element City would be open to players of all levels, when he suddenly realized that, according to his count, the two sides were tied. Stan was confused. Had he counted wrong?

Then, Stan looked back at the wooden platform. There, standing directly in the center of the two platforms, was Cassandrix. Rather than following the others directly to the blue platform, she looked back and forth between them,
debating which one to join.

Stan's heart skipped a beat. He knew that he had promised himself to be impartial, but he couldn't detach himself from all he had done against the Noctem Alliance and he knew in his heart that he wanted the players on the lapis lazuli platform to win. And while he had expected all his commanders to join that side, he had totally forgotten about Cassandrix. Looking at her now, in deep thought, Stan legitimately had no idea which side she was going to join.

For a long time, the two sides stood there, staring at the big-lipped, white-cloth-wearing player. As far as Stan knew, none of the other players knew how close the vote was, besides his friends, who were looking at Cassandrix with their breath caught in their throats.

Finally, after looking at the ground for several minutes, Cassandrix looked up and opened her eyes. She took a deep breath, looking once more toward the iron side and once more toward the lapis lazuli side before turning toward her friends and walking over to join them on the blue platform.

“The results are in,” Stan announced loudly, struggling to keep a neutral face while his friends broke out into huge smiles. “By a margin of a single player, Element City will be open to all players, regardless of their level!”

An explosion of cheers erupted from the lapis lazuli side and the crowd below, so loud that it could probably be heard
from Spawnpoint Hill. Stan's friends lunged forward and threw themselves onto Cassandrix in a group hug, which she accepted with a warm smile. Stan looked over at the lapis lazuli platform and, making sure that nobody on the other side could see, he allowed himself a small smile in celebration that after all his effort and hard work, Element City was finally a place of true equality and justice for all players.

This moment of happiness lasted only for a few seconds, however, before Stan turned around to face the platform of iron. Spyro's face matched that of every other player who stood behind him. They had a look of absolute and total shock, in contrast to the smug assurance that the Noctem soldiers had been wearing since Stan had announced that only the older players would be voting. Stan walked across the wooden platform until, yet again, he was face to face with Spyro.

“Don't worry,” Stan said, as he stared into the hateful eyes of the Noctem leader with no fear. “I'm going to help you build a new city, and reclaim what you've lost. Also, you should know that you, and anybody on this platform, will always be welcome in Element City.”

“As long as there are lower-level players in our city, we will
never
live amongst them,” Spyro spat, trying to jam as much scorn and disgust as possible into the sentence.

“Just remember, Spyro,” Stan said, struggling to keep his
voice steady as his hatred for the Noctem Alliance welled up yet again, “I'm giving you a second chance, and that's a privilege, not a right. I could very easily have killed all of you for what you've done.”

Stan moved even closer to Spyro until their faces were inches apart and, for the first time, he allowed his face to mirror the loathing on Spyro's.

“Don't you even think,” Stan hissed, “that for as long as I'm alive, Spyro, I'm going to forget what you did to the NPC village . . . or to the Mushroom Islands. I don't want to fight you anymore, and I'm still going to help you to construct a new city. But never forget, Spyro, I'm going to do what I have to do to keep all citizens of this server safe. If you, or any of your people, try to hurt or threaten new players, or anyone else, my generosity will end very quickly.”

As Stan took a step back, Spyro continued to look at him. A wide variety of emotions seemed to be running across his face as he processed what Stan was telling him. Finally, he let out a beaten sigh, and he looked up at Stan.

“Fine,” he said softly. “Where do you want us to go?”

“Go back to the bridge at the entrance of the city for now,” Stan said. “Bring your people with you, and wait there for me. When I'm done here, I'll set you up with some temporary shelters that you can use until we can find a good plot of land out in the wilds for you to build your city on.”

Spyro gave a begrudging nod and shouted back at those clustered on the iron platform to follow him. Immediately, the 114 members on the iron platform followed him across the wooden platform and down the stairs. Stan watched them walk by and caught several dirty looks. He continued to look on as the entire horde of black-clad players, with a few other colors interspersed, stepped down off the platform and followed their one remaining general down one of the side roads.

On and on the mass of players went, tramping through the city streets amid countless buildings that had large chunks torn away by TNT or burned away by fire charges. They continued through the streets, their black uniforms blending into the black billowing smoke rising from over half the buildings. Stan continued to watch, keeping his eyes on them until, finally, the last remaining members of the Noctem Alliance vanished from sight, en route to a new home.

Stan took a deep breath. Again, despite his pledge, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pure satisfaction as he watched the enemies he had been battling for so long vanish into the horizon.

Stan turned around and looked over the citizens who had chosen to remain in the city. Up on the wooden platform, Stan's friends were still reveling in their victory. Hugs were exchanged like gifts as everybody tried to adequately
express their joy at the departure of the Noctem Alliance.

Stan saw Charlie and Leonidas hugging it out, while Ben, Bob, and Ivanhoe all danced in celebration (no matter how much he did it, Ivanhoe's moonwalking never got old). The Mechanist appeared to be graciously thanking Cassandrix, who in turn complimented the Mechanist on the speech he had given to rally the citizens for the battle. Commander Crunch, Sirus, and Oob seemed to be partaking in a strange celebration of tossing Stull through the air, playing keep-away from Mella, who was desperately trying to catch her son. From the looks of it, Stull was having the time of his life as he sailed through the air like a football.

Stan smiled. At some point, he would surely join in the celebrations. But now, as he looked out over the sea of thousands of players who were partaking in festivities much like those of his friends, Stan didn't feel like it quite yet.

Stan knew that he may have just made a huge mistake. Not only had he allowed the Noctem Alliance to live on, but he had also given them their own city. He may now have operating powers, but there was still only one of him. Not only that, but he had kept the two factions divided instead of trying to force them together. He knew that there was a very real possibility that, from this division, new hatred would spawn to poison Elementia in the future.

Regardless, though, Stan's fears were just those: fears.
He had done what he believed was right for Elementia. The road ahead of him would be long, hard, and taxing, as he sent his server down a new path. Whether it would be a good path or a bad path, Stan didn't know. But he knew that he would always be there to watch over the server, and as long as that remained true, it was bound to be, at the very least, a better path.

With that, Stan took a deep breath and let it out, allowing all his anxieties to float away like a balloon into the sky above Element City, which, for the first time in weeks, was blue. With one final look toward the place where Spyro and the rest of the Noctem soldiers had disappeared to, Stan turned around and walked across the wooden platform, ready for whatever the future would hold . . . for better or for worse.

A
faint breeze swept across the sun-cooked dunes of the Ender Desert. Despite the long day of baking in the heat, the blocks of sand that made up this vast biome were cooling down now that the sun had sunk behind the western horizon. A rectangular sliver of moon sat in the black dome of sky, alongside the thousands of tiny shimmering dots that spoke of distant cosmos. The cacti stood proud and tall against the endless sea of tan blocks, and the mobs were just beginning to spawn, ambling aimlessly about without a care in the world.

The night was beautiful. It was as if the server itself was aware that a great conflict had been resolved, and it could finally be at peace.

As the moon rose higher into the night sky, a figure trekked through the dunes, traveling out of the jungle above which the sun had set. He began his walk through the desert, setting a course for the dead center of the desolate expanse of sand. A few mobs turned their heads toward him as he passed, and were about to attack before an odd feeling swept over them, compelling them to leave this particular player alone.

On and on the player walked over the dunes, weaving through the cacti. The slice of moon shone down on the player, revealing brown hair, a turquoise shirt,
blue pants, and blue eyes. Stan2012's face bore a look of determination and solemnity.

As the night went on, the heavens spinning slowly above him, Stan continued to walk. He wasn't sure exactly where he was going, but he knew that he would have the right feeling when he got there. Stan was well aware that he could fly instead of walk, or even warp directly where he wanted to be. However, he opted against it. He was going to complete this journey, and he was going to do it on foot, without using his operating powers.

As he walked, Stan thought back on all that had happened since yesterday, when Stan had defeated Lord Tenebris and disbanded the two nations of Elementia. The celebrations in Element City had lasted all throughout the day, and would have gone all night had Stan not told them to get some rest for the next day's work. Stan, however, had not attended those celebrations. He had spent the evening at the outside wall of the city, providing temporary shelters and a supply of food and gear to Spyro, who had been unanimously elected to be the leader of the people who had gone to the iron side of the platform.

Following a good night's rest, Stan had bore witness to the birth of two new nations in Elementia. Spyro had organized his people into the Ironside Kingdom, while the Mechanist had been voted the temporary leader of the Lazuli Republic.
Stan found it amusing that both countries had named themselves after the sides of the execution platform that they had been arbitrarily assigned to, but it hardly mattered to Stan; he wouldn't be joining either of them.

Stan had helped the new Lazuli Republic begin repairs on their city, delegating supplies from the storehouses of Element City. At the same time, he had ensured that the Ironside Kingdom had all they needed to survive in their temporary shelters until Stan returned from his journey and could help them find a new place to build their city.

Although Stan knew there was much work to be done, he wasn't going to rush this journey. He had made a promise, and he was going to fulfill it.

Stan reached the top of a particularly tall sand dune and realized that it would provide him with an excellent vantage point from which to scout out what he was looking for. He peered through the darkness, and after scanning the horizon for a few seconds, he saw a strange color in the endless hills of sand. He looked closer and realized that it was an oasis, a pool of water surrounded by grass blocks. It was the perfect place for what Stan was going to be doing.

As Stan made his way over to the oasis, he remembered his favorite part of the past day. Right before he had left for the desert, a familiar voice had rung out in his head, clear as day. Stan had taken leave from Elementia for a while,
returning to SalAcademy.

For the longest time, Stan told Sally everything that had happened in one long, rambling story, while Sally just sat there and took it all in. She hardly reacted to it in the slightest. All that changed was her smile, growing larger and larger the more that she heard. By the time that Stan was finished, he had one question.

“Sally, do you think it was a mistake—disbanding the countries, separating the people, and starting over?”

For a moment, Sally just stood there, thinking. Finally, she looked him in the eye and replied, “I'm not sure, noob.”

Stan stared back. He didn't know what to say. Then, slowly, Sally's smile returned, but now it wasn't the huge smile it had been—now, it was Sally's trademark sarcastic smirk. At that moment, it struck Stan that it didn't matter if it was a mistake or not. What was done was done, and he would just have to go with it. The important thing was that, no matter what, his friends would be there by his side . . . including Sally.

Or, at least, most of them would.

Stan was now upon the oasis, and he forced himself to clear his mind. As much as he wanted to dwell on the sweet sensation of victory, and the thrill of sharing it with Sally and the rest of his friends, he knew that he couldn't. Not now. It wasn't a time for celebration.

The oasis was small. The pool was a square of three-by-three blocks, which had several odd blocks of water jutting off it. Stan reached into his inventory and pulled out a wooden shovel. He had crafted it with wood from the jungle he had just emerged from not long ago. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it manually.

Stan walked away from the oasis and immediately began to dig through the sand until his shovel struck a hard surface. Switching the shovel for a wooden pickaxe, Stan harvested the sandstone block, and a second one beneath it. He continued to dig around in the hole, expanding it as he harvested more and more sandstone blocks. Sand would periodically fall down to where he was attempting to dig, and he would clear it out with his shovel.

After several minutes of digging, Stan had enough sandstone. He placed a sand block down and then jumped on it, repeating the process until he had climbed his way out of the sinkhole. Stan made his way back over to the oasis and, sandstone in hand, he began construction.

First, he built a sandstone pillar, three blocks high, at each corner of the pool of water. This left a cross of water between the pillars. Stan then built a sandstone staircase on the grass, three blocks high, which extended over the water to be level with the tops of the pillars. He filled in the cross pattern on the top block of the pillar until he had a
sandstone platform, elevated above the water by the four pillars.

Stan pulled a chest from his inventory and placed it in the center of the platform. He opened it, revealing several vacant compartments. Stan took a deep breath, reached into his inventory yet again, and pulled out a diamond sword, glowing with an enchantment of Knockback.

His eyes teared up as he remembered the time he had spent wielding this sword and, more poignantly, the time that he had spent with its owner.

Stan had never met anybody like DZ before, and he doubted that he ever would again. On the surface, he seemed to be an offbeat, somewhat crazy player who took everything with a grain of salt and never failed to make you smile with his sheer zany charm. While that was still true, upon getting to know DZ better, Stan realized that he was much more than that.

Beyond being a master swordsman, DZ's wild coating was merely a facade, behind which hid a deep, introspective person who was trying to find his place in the world. He was an incredible friend, steadfast and loyal, who had sacrificed his own life so that Stan could escape Mount Fungarus.

Stan had never gotten a chance to thank DZ. And now he never would.

As a tear rolled down Stan's face and he gave a sniffle, he placed the sword carefully into the chest. It lay still, immobile, yet still alive with the blue enchantment that shimmered and glowed like the stars in the heavens above.

Stan reached into his inventory one more time, his hands shaking now. As he struggled not to break down into sobs, he pulled out another diamond sword. This one was glowing even brighter than DZ's, bearing three different enchantments of Sharpness, Fire, and Knockback.

Gas-Powered Stick. Kat's sword.

Even after all this time, Stan could not pinpoint the reason that he had asked Kat to join him on his journey to the Adorian Village when he was learning to play Minecraft for the first time. It was probably a foolish thing to do. After all, she had just burst out of the woods and tried to kill him and Charlie. Yet, for whatever reason, Stan had asked that Kat join them, and she had agreed.

Slowly but surely, throughout the course of their quest to take down the Kingdom of Elementia, and the months succeeding it, the girl who had jumped out of the woods, demanding that he and Charlie give her all that they had, ceased to exist. She had transformed, slowly but surely, into one of Stan's best friends in Elementia. She had lost her reckless abandon and disregard for others, gaining wisdom and compassion while not abandoning her willingness to take
risks. She always took care to tell people exactly what they needed to hear, even if they wouldn't like it. Perhaps above all else, she was fiercely loyal to those who deserved it, and was unwilling to take crap from anybody.

As Stan traveled across the server in the race to take down King Kev, and then navigated the republic through the minefield of the Noctem Alliance, and then struggled to take back their server from Lord Tenebris's forces, he had always been amazed to have such amazing friends. Charlie and Kat were the two best companions that he could have ever hoped to have, and Stan had legitimately felt like the three of them could accomplish anything that they wanted to together.

The fact that one of them was now gone forever tore Stan's heart to shreds.

Stan couldn't stop the shaking, nor the sobs escaping his mouth, nor the tears now rolling down his face in waterfalls. All he could do was place Kat's enchanted sword into the chest next to DZ's, propped up against the corner with dignity. Stan took a deep breath and, before he could look at the weapons of his two deceased friends one more time, he closed the chest with a creak and a bang.

Even with the weapons no longer in front of him, the grief of it all spiraled around him, threatening to consume him as if it were all hitting him again for the first time. DZ . . . and Kat . . . two of his closest friends . . . dead . . . and gone forever . . .

Stan took a deep breath and looked up into the sky. If he looked carefully through the blurry lens of his teary eyes, he could see the cosmos moving above him. This server, Elementia . . . it was such a beautiful place. This game, Minecraft, held so much wonder, so much potential, and so much freedom—and, less than two days ago, it was all on the brink of extinction.

And yet, it would survive. And the owners of the two blades now sitting safely in the chest before him were the reason for it.

Kat and DZ had given their lives to the revolution against King Kev. Images of the dozens of things that his friends had done flashed through Stan's head.

Kat leaping out of the lava sea, surrounded by a red aura, stabbing Becca through the back and flinging her into the molten pool. DZ leaping into a pit of Zombies and taking them all out in seconds with two slices of his sword. Kat in The End, fighting off dozens of Endermen all at once. DZ thrusting his sword into the neck of the Ender Dragon, causing it to burst into radiant light. Dozens of other images rolled through Stan's head.

Stan's sobs ceased, but the tears continued to roll. The more he thought about the fact that he would never see either of his friends again, the more it felt as if some sort of dark void had opened within him that threatened to steal his
happiness and never return it. And yet, as Stan realized what they had died for, and that the game of Minecraft had been saved because of them, he knew that he would be able to go on with his life. It would be very difficult, and the pain would never go away fully . . . but he would live.

Stan pulled the blocks of sandstone from his inventory and surrounded the chest with a ring of them. He then proceeded to cover the ring with a three-by-three square, hiding the chest from view. Never would anybody guess that two enchanted diamond swords were hidden inside. They would remain there forever. If someone were to climb the stairs to the top of the monument, they would find two signs that Stan had placed on top, side by side. They read:

KITKAT783 “KAT”

AND

DIEZOMBIE97 “DZ”

HEROES OF

ELEMENTIA

R.I.P.

Stan descended the sandstone stairs and surveyed the monument. It expanded upward, out of the oasis, and looked striking against the flat expanse of the desert and the short
cacti within it. Any players who saw it would climb the sandstone steps and learn the names of these two marvelous players who had sacrificed everything to save the server they loved.

Stan took a deep breath and, tears still flowing from his eyes, turned his back on the shrine and began to walk out into the desert. He extracted a diamond axe from his inventory and clutched it in his hand. Stan knew that the mobs would notice him, and he would have to fight them off. It was what he wanted. Months ago, DZ had asked him on his deathbed to wander the desert for a week after Stan won the war, remembering him and detaching himself from worldly problems.

Stan would do exactly what his friend had asked of him. His stomach rumbled, and it occurred to him that he would also have to hunt his own food while he was out here. It was as if he were a new player, alone and vulnerable in the world for the first time. With a slight chuckle at the thought, Stan wiped the tears from his eyes and set off to hunt.

As he watched Stan leave the shrine and make his way out into the desert to begin his vision quest, the Black Hood smiled as his cape billowed slightly in the wind. The people of Elementia were in good hands. The Black Hood knew that, whatever happened between the players of the server, Stan
would always be there to keep them in balanced order.