Quest for Justice (30 page)

Charlie's pickaxe fighting improved exponentially while he studied under G and Sirus, the latter of whom was apparently
a pickaxe-fighting prodigy as well as a redstone mechanics expert. While G taught Charlie new skill after new skill in hand-to-hand combat, Sirus taught Charlie a way in which it was possible to tunnel underground like a mole and burst out in whichever direction he needed. Charlie appreciated this skill most of all. He believed that the art of ambushing suited him well. Charlie also spent a relatively short amount of time with Archie, during which he improved his skill with a bow to a respectable level.

All other players in the village who were over level fifteen were assigned the task of overseeing the remaining 120 or so lower-level players of the Grand Adorian Militia. They spent half the week training in combat skills for the battle with the King's army. The other half of the time was spent crafting the items that Stan and his friends had brought back into useful things such as swords, armor, flint and steel, and other such paraphernalia.

The Apothecary even took a small group of players aside who devoted themselves completely to brewing potions and splash potions, a variety of potions that could be weaponized and thrown at the enemy. They did run into a flaw in their factory-line assembly of potions, however. They had not found any Magma cream or Potions of Fire Resistance in the End. It was quickly decided that it was too risky to enter the Nether to hunt down a Magma Cube or a Blaze to get some. This was
unfortunate, especially considering that the King's castle was ringed in lava. For those fighting near the edge of the castle, such as Charlie and Stan, such a potion might have been a real asset. It was not essential, however, and when told of the situation, neither Stan nor Charlie complained. Both said that they didn't care, although secretly they both would have heartily enjoyed the extra insurance of protection.

At long last, the night before the assault on King Kev's castle had come. At high noon the following morning, the Grand Adorian Militia would march into enemy territory. The plan was to engage the King's forces in combat, subdue the royal army, kill the King, and liberate the lower-level citizens still trapped within the walls of the city. They would march into the city under Stan's lead, and he would have command of the entire militia throughout the offensive.

And the thought of doing this made Stan feel like he would soil his pants.

Stan was lying in bed in one of the various compartments that had been carved into the walls of solid rock. Kat, Charlie, and DZ occupied the other three beds in the room. Stan could tell from the absence of snores that at least Charlie and Kat were both lying awake. Stan heard whispering and rolled over to see the source. He watched as G leaned over, embraced Kat and held her for half a minute, and then crept out of the room
without another word. Stan was smiling at the sweet gesture when he rolled back over and found himself staring right into a second pair of eyes.

“Hey, noob,” a voice whispered.

“Sally!” Stan hissed as he scrambled to the backside of the bed away from her. “Don't do that!”

“I'm sorry, but it was just too perfect.” She smirked. “I had to come in here and have at least one more midnight chat with you before we go off to war tomorrow.”

“Oh, come on, don't go saying ‘at least one more,'” said Stan as Sally sat down on the bed beside him. “We're both going to come back tomorrow and you know it.”

Sally smiled at him. Stan smiled back, but what Sally couldn't see were the gears grinding in his mind. In truth, he had really never even considered the possibility that some of them might not . . . no,
would not
make it back from the battle alive.
What if Kat or Charlie died?
In the space of about one second, twenty more horrific what-if scenarios crashed through his brain. He made a decided effort not to reveal the pit opening in his stomach to Sally.

“We should probably get some rest,” he said as he grabbed her hand, not wanting to consider any more what-ifs when it came to her.

As if sensing his tension through their clasped hands, Sally leaned forward and kissed Stan on the cheek. “I'll see
you in the morning then, noob,” she said, and she stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“But I would like to fight as well!”

In all the excitement and tension surrounding the preparations for the Grand Adorian Militia's first offensive, the matter of Oob, who had wandered around the base for most of the week prior, had been largely ignored. As the sun rose over the skyline of the Great Woods, Charlie and DZ were now in a heated argument with the villagers over Oob's participation in the battle.

“Oob, you've gotta stay here!” cried Charlie with increasing exasperation. “You'll get slaughtered out there!”

“I helped in defeating the Griefer called Mr. A, and therefore I should be allowed to fight!” protested Oob, showing more focused determination than he ever had before.

“Oob, you gotta understand, that was an ambush,” explained DZ. “You snuck up behind him, and you killed him. Out in the battlefield, there are people everywhere! It wouldn't be hard for one of them to sneak up on you and kill you!”

“I do not care!” cried Oob, starting to cry like an oversized child. “I will gladly die if it means I assist in killing even one of those associated with that terrible King!”

In the end, it took the combined efforts of DZ, Charlie,
and the mayor of Blackstone to force Oob into a compartment room where he would be unable to follow them into battle. Stan and Sally, who were sitting in the chairs and fitting themselves into enchanted diamond chestplates and helmets, watched in amusement.

“You know, it breaks my heart to keep the little guy from fighting. He wants it so bad.” Stan sighed.

“Well, if you have to choose to either keep your heart or his neck intact, I think the latter is probably for the best,” said Sally, to which Stan nodded. Sally looked at him. “Can you believe this is actually happening?”

“I can't,” answered Stan, which was completely true as he looked around the main room of the underground bunker at the 150 players now wearing armor of leather, iron, and diamond. Swords, axes, bows, and the like hung by their sides, and Stan couldn't believe that it was an arrow, drawn back by him and shot at the King, that had put it all in motion. He knew that the King had had it coming to him for a long time, but it was still too much to comprehend that this was all started with his rash, anger-driven action.

“You know,” said Sally, “we don't have a plan of escape or retreat. We only have a plan of attack. Everybody in this room is willing to die for the ideal that you believe in, Stan. You should say something to them.”

“What?” said Stan, taken aback. Her suggestion to make
a speech caught him off guard. “What should I—”

Sally reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders before he could finish. She yanked him into her until their faces were almost touching. “You
know
what to say. You're special, and you know it. I saw it in you the moment I first laid eyes on you.” Her voice was intense, and Stan was hanging onto every word that escaped her lips. “You're not average, Stan. You're so far beyond average. I saw the way you fought against Kat and Charlie with that sword. I heard about the way you took down that Snow Golem. Those were not things that anybody could have done except for you, whether you believe it or not. I love you, Stan, because you are not just above average—you are on a higher level than that.”

As Sally's pep talk drew to a close, it was not the fact that Sally had told Stan that she loved him for the first time that resonated in Stan's mind. No, the last words that Sally had said were the ones that struck Stan: You are on a higher level. Stan's experience during the Enlightenment, the conversation between the two beings that he had witnessed, came rushing back to him again. But now, now they had a whole different meaning.

Stan had briefly discussed the Enlightenment with Kat and Charlie, but they had just thought of it as a cool, well-written poem that tried to sum up the universe in words, with interesting results. Now though, as Stan looked back on those
words, he realized what Sally was trying to say.

The poem, spoken by the two beings on the highest level of universal knowledge, had delivered some words that Stan's mortal mind could not decipher. It had spoken of a player who had reached a higher level, who had the ultimate power of the universe within him.

“It's me, isn't it?” he breathed. Sally nodded, as if she had been reading his thoughts. “I've got to kill King Kev because it's me.” Again Sally nodded. Stan was not even entirely sure what he meant when he said “it's me,” but then again, he had not yet reached the highest level, and so he could not hope to understand. For the time being though, Stan finally realized the full meaning behind the poem as he could understand it at the time.

There were players, humans, entities, or whatever one chose to call them that were at a higher level than the rest of their respective societies. Being at a higher level freed them to do fantastic things, to do things that no other beings had the ability to do. Call them geniuses, call them prodigies, call them gods, Stan now knew that he was in the league of these others, these players, these higher beings. They had not yet reached the highest level, but they had reached the highest level one could reach in the grand scheme of life, of the universe, of the game.

As he looked into Sally's eyes, Stan knew that she had
recognized this higher level within him from the start. Crazy Steve had seen it, too, and Stan was sure that Sally was experiencing the same indescribable mix of confusion and undoubting sureness that he was. They had no more to say to each other. Stan stood up on the chair and cleared his throat.

“People of the Grand Adorian Militia! May I have your attention please!”

It was odd how quickly the room went completely and totally silent. Stan continued, not knowing what he was going to say next but knowing that whatever it was would be right.

“In a few moments, we will be leaving this village. We are embarking on a journey that will take us far past the point of no return, and by the end of this day all of us will be either victorious or dead. There is no need for me to tell you this, as you knew what you were in for when you joined this militia.”

Stan paused for a moment, and he felt a disquieted murmur circulating the room, as if unsure of where he was going with this. Stan continued.

“We are going to win this fight. We are going to win this fight because we are good. We are going to win this fight because we are on the side of justice. We are going to win this fight not just because we want it more, not just because we are better equipped than our enemy could possibly imagine, but because in the grand scheme of the universe, justice will always prevail.

“If we look back on the history of this world of Minecraft,
the world of Earth from which we originated, and any other intelligent world in this universe, you will find that there will always be evil. This is nature, and we cannot change nature. However, there is also an overwhelming power of good to balance that evil, and we do have the power to change what side we choose to ally ourselves with. I have nothing but contempt for the King, who fraternizes with evil, and whom it is my job to kill today. I have nothing but pity for the men and women that he has swayed to his side with his dark temptations.

“However, although evil will always be able to tear us down, this is only because it is indescribably easier to destroy than to create. This game, Minecraft, is not about destruction, however—it is about creation. You will find that creation far outweighs destruction in this universe. That is because for every one evil being in existence, there are a hundred righteous beings to counteract. We are those righteous beings! We are the ones that the universe has enlisted to make this land of Elementia great once again! We are one hundred and fifty players, of one server, of one world, of one universe. And it is our job to save that one server, in the one world, in the one universe, from the darkness that runs unchecked around us!

“So let us go forth, my brothers and sisters of good! Let us go to the stronghold of power that now lies in enemy hands, and take it back for our own! Let us restore Elementia to the vision that its founders once had for it! It's time for us to
make this server a place where future generations can call home! This is our quest, players! This is our quest for justice!”

As Stan enunciated these last three words, the floor of the room broke out into a cacophonic symphony of cheers and shouts, which revved like a jet engine and soon rose into a unanimous chant of “Jus-tice! Jus-tice! Jus-tice!”

Stan looked out into the crowd and saw the Apothecary and Blackraven standing side by side, smiling their ancient, wise smiles at him. DZ and the Nether Boys were going absolutely insane, whistling and chanting and yelling things such as “YOU GO, STAN!” louder than the rest. Jayden, G, and Archie all raised their respective weapons to their foreheads and gave Stan a three-man salute before joining with DZ and the Nether Boys in their wild cheering.

The three faces that meant the most to Stan, however, were right beside him. Kat and Charlie stood side by side, beaming up at Stan with no words, simply staring at the champion of goodness that their best friend had become. Sally was still sitting down and was staring at the floor, but when she sensed Stan looking at her, she glanced up at him and gave him her characteristic amused smirk, which meant more to him than any words ever could.

Five minutes later, the troops were assembled in five lines of twenty-five men each, with Kat, Charlie, Jayden, G, and Sally
at the heads. The players in the lines, suited up in full war gear, were still riled up and excited from Stan's speech, and occasional outbursts of “Jus-tice! Jus-tice! Jus-tice!” were not uncommon.