Quest for Justice (12 page)

“Okay, let's go meet him. But let's make some new weapons, so if he betrays us and steals our stuff, we'll have backups here.” Stan rolled his eyes, but Charlie nodded in agreement.

Charlie hadn't found any iron ore during his mining expedition, just a bit of coal and almost two stacks of cobblestone. His pickaxe was worn out and broken, and he had to craft a new one from the little wood he was able to gather by hand. Kat had also crafted a stone shovel and pickaxe to expedite the process of creating the house. The remainder of the wood had been used to make torches together with the coal.

Stan quickly used his axe to gather a fair amount of wood, which he then converted into planks through crafting.
Then they made sticks, which, with the cobblestone, became a stone sword, a stone axe, and a stone pickaxe. For good measure, Kat used leather from some cows she had killed to craft a cap and tunic, leaving her iron armor in the chest. She also crafted a new cap for Stan. They put their good weapons and all their excess materials in the chest, and Stan used the compass to find his way back to the Apothecary's house.

It turned out that Kat's worry for her tools' safety was for naught. The Apothecary didn't even ask for their weapons upon their entering his house. Stan saw that he had set up two new chairs to accommodate the extra guests. Stan was excited. The Apothecary seemed to have been anticipating their arrival. They were all introduced and then sat down.

“So, now that we're all here, tell me: Why do you hate the King so much, and why do you want him overthrown?” asked the Apothecary.

With the help of Kat and Charlie, Stan told the Apothecary everything that had happened to them since they had joined Elementia. They omitted no details, even though there were certain things that Kat obviously would have preferred they had left unspoken, such as the part where she had almost killed Stan and Charlie. But as Stan recounted every injustice, every instance of prejudice, every senseless murder, it only increased his feeling of hatred for King Kev and the overwhelming desire to convince the old player sitting across
from him to join their cause.

The Apothecary said nothing until Stan finished the story of Charlie acquiring Lemon (who was sitting outside with Rex, guarding them from monsters and the King's men). Then he spoke. “Well, I can certainly understand why you so dearly want to see my old friend King Kev dead,” said the Apothecary gravely.

“What do you mean, ‘your old friend'?” said Kat quickly, and Stan noticed her hand moving toward the stone sword at her waist.

“Oh, don't worry, he certainly isn't my friend anymore,” said the Apothecary, and Kat's grip relaxed, though her hand didn't move from the sword. “Trust me, that evil dictator is the reason I have to live out here as an old hermit. If I had my way, I would reopen my chain of apothecaries in the city.”

“Wait, you mean you owned all those abandoned apothecaries that we saw in Element City?” asked Kat.

Stan remembered. There was at least a store on every block, all closed up and abandoned. All of them had “Apothecary” written on signs above each empty window display.

“That I did. You told me your story. Would you like to hear mine?”

Stan and Charlie nodded enthusiastically, and even Kat said, “Yes, please, sir.”

The old player chuckled. “All right then, please try not to get bored and fall asleep. Let's see, where to begin . . .

“I joined this server in its very earliest days. Elementia was one of the first extremely successful Minecraft servers, and I joined Elementia within a week of its founding. King Kev, the operator of this server, used his operating powers to found Element City in that meadow. He and I were good friends, as we were with a number of others. However, I always felt unfulfilled, like I was meant to do something else in Minecraft besides build.

“Then we learned of the alternate dimensions. Soon thereafter, the King opened Elementia's first portal to the Nether.”

“Excuse me, sir,” interrupted Charlie, “but could you please explain to me what, exactly, the Nether is? I've heard people talking about it, but I don't really get what it is.”

“Of course,” the Apothecary said. “The Nether is a dimension reached by constructing a portal. It is a hell-dimension of lava and fire, populated by mobs far more terrible then those of the Overworld we are in now. When the portal was first opened, most of the players stayed away from it, fearing the dangers. But I kept finding myself drawn toward it. I explored every aspect of the Nether, yet I couldn't find what it was that I was looking for.

“One day, on an update, Nether Fortresses were added.
These were even more treacherous than the rest of the Nether, but they held two valuable pieces of loot: Nether warts and Blaze Rods. The rods were used to craft brewing stands, and the warts were the bases for potions.

“I had found my calling. The brewing of potions is what I am good at. I loved it so much that I opened up a chain of apothecaries around the city, and even changed my name to Apothecary1. Those were the good days.

“But then, with the server being as successful as it was, there was an influx of new players to the server that continues to this day. All of them wanted a piece of the upper class. Naturally, the King tried to spread the wealth, but there were just too many players. I had gained a seat on the King's Council of Operators by this time, and there was a player on the council who was the King's best friend, named Avery007. Avery was an advocate for the new players, and he wished to eliminate the class barrier. He was gaining a huge following. He was a very gifted public speaker.

“It was at this point that the King became incredibly paranoid, afraid that he would lose his absolute power. He had granted Avery operating powers a while before this, and he was afraid that Avery was going to overthrow him. This led him to implement the Law of One Death, changing the mode of this server to Hardcore PVP, meaning that you cannot return to Elementia after death. He and Avery then
battled, using their operating powers to fly high over the city. I tell you, it was a spectacle—two operators battling is the most amazing thing you will ever see. In the end, though, Avery was overpowered. He was killed and banished from the server. By the next day, the King had killed three other people with strong followings on the server. With Avery gone, the King was the only operator remaining.”

“That is very interesting, sir,” said Stan, which he sincerely meant, “but where do you come into this?”

“Oh. Well, you see, I was still very much in the King's favor, although I was very upset with him for killing and banishing those players, all of whom were my good friends. But paranoia had twisted King Kev's mind by that point. There were rumors of a rebellion going around, so any of the alleged leaders of the hypothetical rebellion were killed. That's why no sane player who is in league with the King today would even joke about overthrowing him.

“My problems started when a rumor came up that the apothecaries in Element City were providing potions to a rebellion movement. I was lucky. Four of my friends and I were accused by King Kev of treason on the same day. There was me; there was the chief of Redstone Experiments, Mecha11; and there were the three Chiefs of Exploration, Bill33, Bob33, and Ben33. There was a high amount of unrest in the kingdom due to the number of people that the
King had killed, so he pledged to never kill anyone again unless they were proven guilty. Instead of killing us, King Kev banished us from the city, warning us to never again run into a government official, or we would risk dire consequences. I opened my own Nether portal here in the jungle and began stockpiling potions. I have no idea what happened to the Mechanist, or to Bill, Bob, and Ben.

“So you see,” said the old player, and Stan sensed that he was about to say something important, “if you truly want to overthrow the King, I would be happy to use my knowledge of Elementia's inner workings, as well as the potions I have stockpiled, to help you in any way that I can.”

“Thank you!” Charlie threw himself at the Apothecary, and began wringing his hand. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Yes, we really appreciate your help, sir,” said Kat, and Stan could tell that she finally trusted him.

“So I have a question, sir,” said Stan, voicing something that had been on his mind since that morning. “How many people do you think that we'll need to launch an assault on the King's castle in Element City? If we can take the castle, then we'll have control over the city.”

The old player thought for a moment and then said, “Well, I imagine that the King probably has around two hundred men in his military. You see, King Kev has the ability
to call any of his citizens to do anything at any time. While he typically commands the lower-level players to take care of jobs in Element City, his military of two hundred players is made up of only the best fighters in Elementia . . . mainly upper-level players, that is. So, assuming that the lower-level citizens of the army were to abandon the army if you attacked the castle, you would still have, say, another one hundred and thirty or so men to face.”

Stan was shocked. He looked at Charlie and Kat. “Where can we possibly get that many people to invade the city?”

Kat was about to answer, but the Apothecary cut her off by saying, “How about the Adorian Village?”

There was a moment of silence. Then Kat said, “Um, sir, weren't you listening? The King's riot control destroyed the Adorian Village. Everybody who lived there is dead now.”

“Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that,” said the Apothecary with a smile. “New players join Elementia every day. Most of them will still be inclined to follow the path to the Adorian Village. And also, don't be so sure that all the people that were in that village are dead.”

“How could any of them have survived?” asked Charlie incredulously. “They blew up all the stone houses and burned down the wooden ones!”

“Well,” the Apothecary replied, “One thing that I didn't mention in my story is that the King has largely ignored
the Adorian Village, as have the majority of the Council of Operators. Avery and I were the only ones on the council who aided young Adoria when she was a new player on the scene who wanted to create a village for the new players of Minecraft. We helped her design the village, and the houses within.

“Every few days, the Adorian Village has a drill. You must have missed it since you were there for such a short time. They prepare for a large-scale Griefer attack, which was essentially what you described to me. Each of those houses has an underground survival cellar, which can sustain four people for a month. The entrance is very inconspicuous; only the most observant soldier would recognize it. They also have that mine to hide in. I'd be surprised if more than a third of the inhabitants of the Adorian Village were actually killed in that attack.”

Stan's heart lifted at the thought that there might have been far fewer casualties of the attack on the Adorian Village than he had originally thought.

“And I'll bet that those survivors are furious with the King right now,” added Charlie. “
And
I'll bet that Jayden and Sally and the others are still training those players, and they have no clue where to go now.”

“Well, that's settled, then,” said Kat. “The survivors of the Adorian Village will be our main reinforcements when
we attack the King's castle. One of us should go back to the village and tell the others of our plan. The other three should try to find some supplies, like diamonds, steaks, and golden apples. We need enough materials for an army of, say, one hundred.” She looked at the Apothecary. “Any idea where we might find all that? Because Charlie and I have been discussing it all afternoon, and we've got nothing.”

The Apothecary replied, “I actually might.”

Stan was caught off guard. He had expected the old player to shoot down all their ideas, not offer to help them prepare for their battle.

“Oh, hold your horses. I don't know for sure where it is. But what I do know is that in the days of my seat on the Council of Operators, I heard rumors going around that the King had created a secret stash of armor, weapons, food—everything he would need to re-create his army if he was ever ousted from power. There were several rumors about where the stash was, but the one I heard most said that it's underground, at the center of Ender Desert. I'm not positive that's where the stash is, but there definitely
is
a stash, and there was too much talk about that location for there not to be at least something there.”

Stan jumped up. “Charlie!” he yelled.

Everyone looked at him, and Charlie replied, “Yes?” with a concerned look on his face.

“Charlie, you have the best mining instincts of anyone. G said so himself! If there's anyone who could find an underground stash of supplies, it's you.”

The Apothecary stood up and slammed his fist on the table. “It's settled then! I myself shall go back to the Adorian Village and work with Adoria's pupils to train their new players for battle with the King's forces. The three of you must go into the Ender Desert and find the secret stash. I swear to you, if the stash isn't there, something will be, and maybe it will be something that you can use to your advantage.”

The old player walked over to a chest and put his leather armor into it. With a start, Stan realized for the first time that the Apothecary had a skin, or appearance, that was strikingly similar to Crazy Steve's, save the white beard and the potion sashes. The Apothecary reached into the chest and pulled out a diamond chestplate. He stared at it for a moment.

“This place has given me so much, and then taken it away,” said the old player to his reflection. “It's time for me to make this server a place that future generations can call home.”

He pulled the chestplate on over his head, and Stan watched in awe as the Apothecary pulled out a full set of diamond armor, including boots and leggings, and slipped them on. He then drew out his weapons of choice: two diamond pickaxes, glinting in the torchlight. He turned back to the players.