Trapped In the Temple Read online

  “Okay,” said Billy. “Let’s go.

  Andrew said, “We can’t go now. It’s pitch dark out. We will be destroyed in a minute. We’re going to have to stay here until it gets light out. We also have to hope that no hostile mobs spawn here.”

  Billy laughed. “I forgot that it was night time.”

  Edison looked at the ground. “Are there more chests in here?”

  “Yes,” said Andrew. “We should open them. I know I have a few chests with potions that we could use to defend ourselves.”

  Billy pulled some potions of Water Breathing from his inventory. “Do you want these back? We took them all.”

  “Because you wanted to have everyone use them, right?” asked Andrew.

  “Yes,” replied Billy.

  “You can hold on to them. You can distribute them when we reach the shores of Farmer’s Bay. I want everyone there when we find Hal under the water. I believe that’s the only way we can stop him. He isn’t as strong under there.”

  The trio looked through the chests scattered across the floor of the cave. They found two chests filled with potions of Weakness and another filled with potions that could weaken and harm.

  “We can finally defend ourselves,” said Edison.

  “And you’ll need to!” A deep voice boomed through the cave.

  The trio stood up and saw Hal sprinting toward them. The older man with gray hair was inches from them when they doused him with every potion they could hold in their hands. But they only weakened him; they didn’t destroy him.

  Hal pulled a potion from his inventory, but as he grabbed it, the trio was able to spray Hal with a second barrage of potion, and he vanished.

  “We have to get out of here,” said Edison.

  “But it’s night,” Billy reminded him.

  “Edison’s right, we have to get out of here,” said Andrew. “We have no choice.”

  The gang sprinted out of the cave. Edison wished Andrew had a potion of Invisibility in one of the chests they had emptied, but as he raced through the dark night, he reminded himself that they were lucky to have filled their inventories with all of the loot. They were even luckier that Hal hadn’t hacked their inventories and stolen all of their treasures.

  “The town isn’t far from here,” Andrew reassured them.

  It was dark out, and the gang kept a close eye out for hostile mobs, and they noticed two zombies lumbering toward them. The smell from the undead mob was nauseating, and they held their noses. Edison pulled potion from his inventory and sprinted toward the undead beasts and splashed them with potion. The vacant-eyed mobs were weakened when Billy and Andrew raced toward them with their potions. The undead beasts were destroyed. The gang spotted a few more zombies in the distance, and they armed themselves with potions as they raced toward the foul-smelling creatures of the night.

  They were inches from the zombies when the sun came out. Their eyes were blinded by the sunlight, and they closed their eyes. When Edison finally opened his eyes and stopped squinting, he saw the forest was right in front of them. Large spruce trees that reached the sky were in sight.

  “It’s Forest Haven,” exclaimed Andrew. He sprinted toward the biome that was thick with leaves. “You have to stay close behind me or I’ll lose you. It’s very easy to get lost in my biome,” he explained. “But my house isn’t far from here.”

  Edison and Billy followed closely behind Andrew, who led them down a path that was covered in leaves. The green leaves brushed against Edison’s face as he made his way toward the town. When they reached the other side of the leaves, Edison saw a bunch of homes.

  They sprinted past a small village, which was abandoned. The blacksmith’s shop, the library, and the streets were emptied of people. The ghost town depressed Edison. He disliked seeing the town, which he assumed was once bustling, emptied. As he jogged through Forest Haven, he understood the devastating impact Hal had on the universe. Edison wasn’t going to let him destroy Farmer’s Bay or any other town in the universe.

  “There’s my house,” said Andrew, pointing to a small wooden home next to a large tree.

  Andrew slipped inside, and Edison and Billy followed him. Tears filled Andrew’s eyes as he looked around the small wooden house. “This place looks exactly the same.”

  He stood by the crafting table, and Edison pulled diamonds from his inventory and handed them to Andrew. Andrew carefully crafted a diamond sword. “If we craft armor, I think we have enough diamonds to craft some for all of our friends. I think we actually have just enough for three swords.”

  “I wish we had enough for all of our friends, but that’s better than nothing,” said Billy.

  “We can give them the potions that we have so they will have something to help them defend themselves.”

  A voice called out from the doorway, “Is someone there?” The voice was weak, and it jarred the gang. This was a ghost town, and they weren’t expecting to see anybody in Forest Haven.

  “Hello?” it called out again.

  Edison and Andrew said in unison, “Julian?”

  “Yes,” he replied as he walked in with a cane.

  “What happened to you?” asked Andrew, looking up from the crafting table.

  “I was injured a while ago, and I returned home. I have been hiding in town. Hal doesn’t think anybody is here, so he hasn’t returned.”

  “We’re trying to battle Hal,” explained Billy.

  “Good,” said Julian. “He needs to be stopped.”

  Andrew crafted the first sword and handed it to Edison. “What do you think?”

  It had been a long time since Edison held a sword, and it felt good to have the ability to fight back in battle. “This is perfect. Thank you.”

  Andrew crafted the next sword and handed it to Billy, who also thanked him. As Andrew worked on the final sword, Julian asked, “Where are you planning on battling Hal?”

  “We’re going to try and find him under water,” said Billy.

  “If you want, I have a lot of potion of Water Breathing. I have been saving it for a moment like this. Honestly, I never thought this moment would come, and I’d love to give you all of the potions I have in my house.”

  “We do have a lot of potion of Water Breathing,” said Edison.

  Andrew finished the final sword, which he placed in his inventory before he began to craft the armor. “I think we should take the additional bottles,” he said. Then he asked Julian, “Unless you want to come with us?”

  “I thought you’d never ask,” he said. “I’d love to join you.” He walked back home to gather the potions and met them outside of Andrew’s house. They were suited up in armor and clutched their swords. Julian was also wearing diamond armor.

  “How’d you keep the armor?” asked Andrew.

  “I have my ways,” Julian replied.

  The gang sprinted out of Forest Haven toward Farmer’s Bay. Julian trailed behind them with his cane. When they reached Verdant Valley, a loud, thunderous boom shook the ground, and rain created puddles on the ground.

  “Hostile mobs are going to spawn,” warned Andrew. “We don’t want to use all of our resources, or we will be in trouble.”

  “But we have to get to Farmer’s Bay. We’re so close,” said Edison.

  Three skeletons spawned in the damp day and shot arrows at the group. The rainy arrows hit their armor and bounced off. Edison loved having armor again. It was so much easier to battle. As he raced toward the skeletons and leaped at them with his diamond sword, he could hear familiar voices call out in the distance.

  Through the rain, Edison could see Anna’s purple hair and red shirt, and he could hear her screaming, “Help!”

  She wasn’t battling skeletons: she was being destroyed by Hal.

  16

  UNDERWATER SEARCH

  A skeleton’s arrow pierced Edison’s arm as he sprinted toward Anna and Hal. As he reached Anna, she had only one heart left, and Edison quickly tossed a potion on Hal that weakened him, and t
hen sliced into his unarmored belly with his diamond sword. Now Hal had only one heart left.

  As Edison delivered the final blow and destroyed Hal, Edison said, “You thought you were so powerful that you didn’t need armor, but you were wrong.”

  Hal looked at Edison and said, “You’ll pay for this.” Then he was destroyed.

  Although Hal had been destroyed for the moment, Anna was still incredibly vulnerable. Her purple hair was wet and stuck to her face, and her red plaid shirt was drenched. “When is this going to end?” she asked Edison. Her voice was weak, and she was exhausted.

  “Take this.” He handed Anna a bunch of bottles of harming and some that she could drink to regain her strength. “This should help you. I promise you, we will get this to stop. We always do.”

  “You’re so confident,” Anna said as she drank a potion of Strength. She was about to splash a potion of Harming on a skeleton when the rain stopped and the sun came out.

  “I told you it would get better.” Edison smiled.

  Andrew rushed over to Edison. “We have to get underneath the water now. We don’t have a lot of time. He’s going to come back.”

  Billy saw Petyon, Erin, Princess Hannah, and her family on the shores of Farmer’s Bay. He handed them bottles of potion of Water Breathing. They all thanked him and took a big gulp, and then they collectively plunged into the deep blue sea.

  A guardian swam past them, and the spiky fish wagged its tail, readying itself for an attack. The fish locked eyes with Billy, and he was caught in the fish’s laser that quickly changed from purple to yellow. Billy’s armor protected him from the serious impact, but he still lost two hearts.

  “We have to get inside this ocean monument,” Andrew said as he swam toward the ocean monument below them. It was being guarded by an elder guardian that was in the middle of a battle with a player that had swum into the monument before they arrived.

  “Is that Hal?” asked Edison as he swam next to Andrew.

  “No,” Andrew said. “That’s Ron.”

  “Or Don?” asked Billy.

  “It’s both of them.” Andrew took a closer look. The elder guardian was in the midst of a battle with two people.

  “We have to wait here,” said Andrew.

  Everyone swam next to Andrew, waiting for the destruction of the elder guardian. They tried to hide from Ron and Don as they watched the duo try to defeat the elder guardian, but they were having a hard time. They had both been struck with the Wither effect multiple times.

  “They aren’t very good fighters,” said Princess Hannah.

  “I know. We should help them, but it’s sort of fun to watch,” said Andrew.

  “What happens if they attack us when we help them?” questioned Prince Elias.

  “There’s only one way we can find out, and we have to get into the ocean monument,” said Andrew as he swam toward them. But he stopped when he saw Ron defeat the elder guardian and swim to pick up the prismarine drop. Andrew kept his distance to make sure Ron and Don didn’t see him. The others watched Andrew as he swam at a slow pace toward the entrance.

  Andrew waved to the others. He wanted them to follow him into the ocean monument. They swam into the grand prismarine ocean monument lit with sea lanterns, past a large room, and down a hall with a series of rooms. Andrew swam into the first room, a massive room with a roof comprised of sponges. “This isn’t it.” he told them, and he swam toward the next room. As the gang got closer to the next room, they could hear voices.

  “We found it. Great, we have to put all of this in our inventory,” said Ron.

  “I can’t believe it,” said Don. “We actually found it.”

  “We have to work fast. We don’t want him finding out,” said Ron.

  Andrew peeked his head in the room. It was filled with gold bars, but behind the gold bars were numerous chests; Andrew couldn’t even count how many chests were in the room.

  “Guys.” He looked at his new friends. “It looks like we found it,” Andrew told them.

  “Is Hal in there?” asked Anna.

  “No,” he explained. “Ron and Don are looting the room.”

  “Now I know why they were sticking with him,” said Anna. “They were plotting to steal from him. “

  They didn’t have time to discuss the betrayal in Hal’s world because as they floated by the room’s entrance, they saw Hal spawn in the center of Ron and Don.

  Hal screamed, “What are you doing?”

  Ron and Don didn’t respond with words. Instead they both took out their diamond swords and swam toward Hal. Ron ripped into Hal’s arms with his diamond sword, and Don sliced into his legs. They were trying to hit any unarmored part of his body. Hal was losing hearts, but he wasn’t destroyed. He fought back and swung his sword at Ron, cutting his shoulder.

  “Why are you doing this? This is my treasure!” Hal shouted.

  “Not anymore,” said Don as he pounded the sword against Hal’s legs.

  “You were supposed to be my assistants. Why are you betraying me?” Hal asked as he struck Ron with his sword.

  The gang just stayed by the entrance and watched. They couldn’t believe their luck. They got to watch Hal’s own people bring him down. Most of them were content watching the battle unfold, but Edison felt they should get involved.

  “We don’t want Ron and Don destroying Hal. If they do, we will have no idea where he’ll respawn, and we want to capture him,” said Edison.

  “Can’t we just watch them destroy each other?” asked Petyon.

  “No,” said Edison. “This is our perfect opportunity to capture Hal, and we have to do it now.” Edison swam into the thick of the battle between Hal and Ron and Don.

  “Edison,” Hal called out. “Help me!”

  “Help you?” Edison laughed. “I’m not here to help you.”

  “Why are you here?” Hal asked weakly.

  “To capture you,” said Edison.

  Hal watched as the entire gang he had held prisoner in the desert dungeon swam into the room.

  Ron and Don let out a collective gasp. “You’re not taking us,” said Ron.

  Billy swam toward Ron and Don. Their hearts were low, and he grabbed them. “You’re coming back to Farmer’s Bay. All of you are going to be punished for trying to destroy the Overworld.”

  Edison held Hal. “You have to stop hacking and stealing from the Overworld.”

  “And destroying towns,” said Julian. “You wiped Forest Haven from the map. It’s a ghost town.”

  “You have to stop removing ocelots from the Overworld. I don’t want to lose Scooter again,” added Princess Hannah.

  Hal was overwhelmed. All of these complaints about him swam around in his head. The strikes from Ron and Don’s swords had weakened him, and he only had one heart left. He didn’t even have enough energy to pull a potion of Invisibility from his inventory and splash it on himself and escape, which was his usual move.

  “You’re coming with us,” said Anna. “All of you.”

  The trio had no choice. They had to swim back to the shore of Farmer’s Bay with the gang. When they reached the shore, they walked toward the village. They brought Hal and his minions into the town hall. Edison pulled apples from his inventory and ordered them to eat. They had very low health bars, and he didn’t want them getting destroyed as he interrogated them.

  As the trio ate their apples, Edison and the gang pounded them with questions.

  “How are you hacking? Is all of the stuff you stole from the folks in the Overworld in the ocean monument? How can you stop hacking? Were you using command blocks?”

  Hal listened to all of the questions, but only replied, “I’m not answering anything.”

  17

  MESSAGES

  “Well you don’t have to tell us,” said Anna. “We are going to put you in jail in Verdant Valley. Maybe one day, you’ll change your mind and want to tell us, but for now you can just sit there and think about all of the bad things you did to the Overw
orld.”

  The trio didn’t respond. Edison ordered them to empty their inventories. Hal pulled out a sword and a few potions from his inventory, and Ron and Don did the same.

  “Show us your inventories. We want to make sure they are empty,” ordered Billy.

  The trio showed them their empty inventories, and the group carefully inspected them. They didn’t want Hal, Ron, or Don having anything in the jail. They could use these items to escape and create more havoc on the Overworld.

  The gang walked the criminals to the jail in Verdant Valley. Although the walk was silent, when they placed the trio in the small prison bedrock jail, the trio had an explosive fight. Anyone walking past the structure could hear the shouting.

  “I can’t believe you guys were stealing from me! You are the reason I was caught,” Hal screamed.

  “Us?” Ron and Don screamed back.

  “Yes, if we were working together, they couldn’t have caught us,” screamed Hal.

  Edison stood outside the jail. They couldn’t see him, but he was keeping track of everything that they were shouting at each other. He knew that this was better than a confession, that if they kept shouting, they would eventually reveal something they didn’t want Edison and the gang to know. They were very emotional and weren’t thinking about what they were saying.

  “We listened to you for such a long time, and we knew you would have just destroyed us once you had stolen everything from the Overworld,” declared Don.

  “I wasn’t going to do that,” Hal defended himself.

  “Don’t lie to us,” said Ron. “We know what you had planned.”

  “But we were working together as a team,” said Hal.

  “We were never a team,” screamed Don. “You were just using us to get whatever you wanted done. We saw you do this to others. You just put them on hardcore mode and destroy them when you’re through. You are awful.”

  “But I wouldn’t have done that to you. I wanted you to be with me when I gathered all of the treasure in the Overworld and lived a life under the water.”

  “Hal, how can we believe you?” asked Don.

  “I taught you guys how to hack. I never did that with the others. I told you how to use the command blocks. I even brought you to the room behind the dungeon prison where I keep them.”