Quick A/N before I start: Okay, so you know how I said that I'd continue the story of Herobrine in the real world, on Earth? I simply can't bring myself to write that; I don't know why.
I'll just add bits and pieces here and there, but it won't be a major part of the story, or it might not be in the story at all. Maybe it'll be important at the end. I don't know.
But if anyone wants to continue that story of Herobrine on Earth, feel free to do so. Just message me so that I can read it, because I'd like to see what other people come up with.
Now, back to the story!
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*a week later*
Seto's POV
Jason hasn't gotten much better.
He fell asleep the day he collapsed outside the Team Crafted house and hasn't woken up since. I can still feel his heartbeat, which is going strong and steady. But he doesn't respond to any potion or medicine I've tried. He just lays there in bed with a peaceful look on his paler-than-usual face.
Everyone's aware of his condition now. We take turns watching him, but he doesn't move at all.
We all fear for the worst - that he could die at any moment.
All of us at the Team Crafted house who can actually walk- Sky, Ty, Mitch, Ryan, and I - are going to the Royal Palace for a meeting.
After all, Ty's birthday is coming fast.
We walk in silence on the way there, which is about an hour-long walk, and as we approach the City of Angels, heads turn towards us, and the citizens shout greetings and run to meet us.
I wave back, smiling at them. Sky, Ty, and Ryan do the same; Mitch just grins halfheartedly and walks faster.
I get the feeling he's not all that comfortable with attention.
As we get to the gates of the Palace, Ian greets us with a happy grin.
"How are you guys doing?" he asks. "I love doing this Army thing!"
"Great," Sky greets him formally. "Can we go meet the new recruits?"
"Sure!" Ian exclaims. Man, he's hyper. "This way!"
He leads us to a clearing in the forest just past the Palace walls. Rows of tents have been set up, probably for the new recruits to sleep in. We walk past a lot of boys and girls - who look to be as young as teenagers or older than us - who are sparring, practicing archery, or just chilling in their tents. But as they see us, they stop what they're doing and stare.
I take a good look at each of their faces. Many are humans, but there are a few hybrids here and there, and there are definitely a lot of sorcerers.
"There are a few people I'd like you to meet," Ian says. He gestures to a small group of people standing around a wooden table.
One of them waves us over. He's wearing a black jacket, matching pants, a white t-shirt underneath, and red sunglasses. The letters CS are printed on his badge. Huh. Wonder what that stands for.
Bodil sits on top of the table, playing with a redstone torch. Another boy wearing a bright green jacket sits next to him, furiously jotting something down in a notebook.
A few of Mitch's friends - what were their names again? - sit off to the side, quietly having a conversation among themselves.
"You remember me, right, guys?" Bodil asks as we approach the other group.
"How could we not remember you?" Ryan asks.
"Bodil, Captain of the Explosives Division," Sky laughs. "Although I still think 'troller' or 'person who likes parkour' would be more appropriate titles for you."
"Ah, whatever," Bodil says. "Blowing stuff up is good enough for me. Oh, and by the way, this is Sub." he adds, pointing to the boy sitting next to him, who hasn't said a word yet.
"Hey, Sub!" Ty says, kneeling down. Sub seems kinda young to be in the army. Either that, or he's just short.
Sub waves at him, then picks up his pen and scribbles something in his notebook.
I can't talk. They did something to me when I was younger... But everyone says I'm smart, and I can code faster than anyone! I made these things called earpieces, and you just put it in your ear and people can talk to you, and you can talk to them.
"Man, he writes fast," Mitch remarks.
Yup!
"What are we talking about over here?" the sunglasses guy from earlier asks.
"Jordan, Captain of the Assasssin and Spy Division," Sky smiles. "I heard that you're getting a lot of new recruits."
Jordan nods. "Yeah. And they're all extremely talented."
While they continue talking, I zone out and wander away from the group.
I want to look for other new sorcerers. I haven't had a good person to practice magic with in a long time.
I take one step into the garden and nearly get my head cut off by a flying tree branch that's surrounded by a blue aura.
Another sorcerer? a voice in the back of my mind says.
Sure enough, a girl is sitting on a bench amidst a swirling tornado of random plants and other objects, all surrounded with that same blue aura. She's wearing a blue shirt, black skinny jeans, dark gray combat boots, and she has long brown hair and brown eyes.
When she sees me, she jumps a bit, and all the floating objects around her drop to the ground.
"Sorry, didn't see you there!" she apologizes, then one by one, the objects that were flying around her just a moment ago zoom back to their original places.
"You're a sorcerer too, huh?" I ask, sitting down on the bench next to her.
"Yeah," she nods. "You're that guy who's head of the sorcerers' division, right?"
I'm glad someone around here recognizes me. "Yeah," I nod.
"Everyone says... well, I don't exactly know the right word for it."
"What kinds of magic can you do?" I ask.
"I can move inanimate objects - or people, if I concentrate hard enough, speak directly into other people's minds, make them see nightmares, control them... stuff like that. I haven't exactly mastered it all yet, though..."
"Wow. So you do all of this with your mind?"
"Yeah," she nods.
This girl could be very powerful and helpful in the coming fight - if she can master her powers.
"What's your name?" I ask.
"Shelby," she replies.
We sit there in silence for a while, as Shelby smashes a stone from the path into pebbles with her telekinesis.
"I can already tell we're gonna be good friends," I say.
Shelby only smiles.
Suddenly, the ground starts to shake, and I stand up.
"What the heck is this?" Shelby yells over the rumbling. "An earthquake?"
"I don't know!" I reply, and grab her arm. "We need to check on the others!"
We race back towards the camp.
When we get there, I'm not surprised to find it in chaos. People are running around like headless chickens, some are holding their swords out, looking around for someone to fight.
Calm down. It's just a normal earthquake, I tell myself.
I find Sky in the crowd, and teleport to him, taking Shelby with me.
"What's going on?" I yell.
"I don't know!" I hear Ryan scream to the left of me.
Suddenly, I hear a pain-filled scream and a sickening crunch as someone's thrown into the ground.
"We're being attacked!" Bodil yells. "Time for me to - "
"Nope!" Sky replies. "You are not setting up explosives! You could get a recruit killed! And besides, we don't even know what we're up against!"
"Sky, what are your orders?" Ty shouts.
"Fight them!" Sky yells. "Jordan, Preston, Vikk, go scout and see what's attacking us! The rest of you, go and gather as many people from your division you can find and fight! I'll be joining you in a moment!"
Ty appears next to me, grimacing. "I have the feeling that I know what's happening," he mutters. "Let's go, Seto!"
With that, he takes off, weaving his way through the crowd, and I follow him.
Soon, we break through the crowd, only to find dead bodies at our feet.
Standing in front of us is an army of angry Endermen.
"My brother's getting angry," Ty growls.
I summon a ball of purple fire, and it floats above my palm. "Well, it's not gonna end well for these Endermen."
I throw the fireball at one of the Endermen, and he disinigrates when the fire touches him.
And I'm already feeling dizzy after one fireball.
I pull out my enchanted obsidian knives, quickly slitting an Enderman's throat and running away before it can catch me.
I feel someone else's presence by my side - it's Mitch, I think - and he picks up a throwing knife, sending it spinning straight into the heart of an Enderman.
To my right, Mitch's group of friends - I think Sky called them the Warrior Division Captains? - are taking down the Endermen one after another.
We all go into automatic battle mode - slash, dodge, duck, stab, roll - until the Endermen are all dead, and most of the recruits have fled. Only one is alive, and Ty's holding it by the neck.
"I've got a message for you to pass on to my brother," he growls. "Do not attempt anything like this again. Next time, I'm personally coming to murder him. Understood?"
The Enderman - which was only two blocks tall instead of the normal three (it must be young; poor thing) - gurgled softly, then teleported away.
"We weren't fast enough," Ian says, staring around the clearing in disbelief.
The clearing is now littered with dead bodies and injured recruits. We couldn't get moving fast enough, and as a result, some of the recruits ended up dying.
Sky walks over to Ty and me, and motions for everyone else to stay away.
"That attack was ordered by your brother, wasn't it?" Sky asks in a hushed voice.
"Yes," Ty answers. "He's trying to show me the full force of his power - maybe he wants to intimidate me, I don't know - but I won't fall for it."
"What should we tell the others, though?" I say. "An army of Endermen attacking the recruits can't be just a coincidence."
"We tell them that it was an army of Endermen," Ty shrugs. "There's no point in hiding it."
"True," Sky agrees.
We rejoin the rest of the group, and Quentin comes running in from the castle, carrying a huge first-aid bag.
"Hey there, Doctor Q!" Mitch waves.
"How's it going?" he smiles, and gives Mitch a small friendly hug. "Oh my Notch," he gasps when he sees all the injured people.
With that, he walks over to a little boy who looks to be about eleven or twelve, who's bleeding from several spots in his leg, and his arm is twisted strangely.
"He's a pretty good doctor," Ian remarks. "Although I still wish he could fight."
"I heard that!" Quentin calls over his shoulder.
The group bursts into laughter.
I look around at our group, old and new faces mixed together. Sky, Ty, Mitch, Ryan, Ian, Quentin. And the new captains, Bodil, Sub, Jordan, Rob, Preston, Vikk, and Mat.
"Did I miss anything?" a voice says behind me.
I turn aroud to see a zombie dressed in a suit - why, I have no idea - and carrying a diamond sword.
Jordan, Bodil, and Vikk let out a collective groan.
"Tom, you had one job to be here on time!"
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A/N: Please tell me someone understands the reference in the last sentence.
Yeah, sorry it's so late...
And I know this chapter is shorter and crappier than usual, but I wanted to post something since I haven't posted anything for a while.
I've picked the winners for the character contest! It was really hard to do since there were so many good entries. But I won't say who they are just yet; you'll see them later on. And I may also choose characters for small side parts that appear maybe once or twice.
Don't expect another update for a while because I'm going to Florida and I've got a lot of homework to do over the next few days. And I've also got to take the High School Placement Test soon. I'm nervous for that...
So yeah.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed!
~Anna