MineLantis
Night
"So this is MineLantis?" Darron asked.
Samson and Lola had swam off to go play with their friends. Darron, Daniel, Calvin, and Borris are all swimming through the Kingdom, swimming past other MineLantians. The Kingdom was very much alive at this time of night. The sea lanterns were the light source for the kingdom, giving off a blueish-greenish glow.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Calvin asked as he looked to his left at Daniel and then to his right at Darron with a smile on his face. He saw the wow in both of them. They were blown away at how breathtakingly beautiful MineLantis was for a ruined Kingdom.
Sure, the Kingdom had its takeaways such as the damage on the buildings, but neither Daniel nor Darron seemed to care. They were more surprised by the fact that they never knew this place existed up until this morning when Calvin and Borris came to their aid. No stories, or books, ever mentioned an underwater Kingdom that was named MineLantis. Not any stories that Daniel or Darron could remember reading in the past. As they continued to swim towards the castle, they were greeted by two Minelantian soldiers. The two soldiers were wearing the same armor as Calvin and Borris were wearing. The only thing that was different about their appearance was their tridents. Instead of having golden ones like Calvin and Borris, theirs were made of silver.
"Calvin. Borris. Nice to see you gentlemen again," one of the soldiers said, "I see you two have company," he continued on to say.
Calvin and Borris smiled and nodded their heads. It was good to see their friends again. Fact, everyone who lives in MineLantis is extremely friendly and outgoing. There's not a single MineLantian who's mean or disrespectful. If you're looking for trouble, you'd best make your way towards the Trench Kingdom. That's where the evil Sirens live.
"Martin. Thomas," Calvin said as he looked over at Daniel and Darron, who were now both over to his right. "Meet some new friends of ours; Daniel and Darron."
Martin and Thomas both looked over at Daniel and Darron. They were wearing their golden helmets over their faces. They took them off to appear less intimidating towards Daniel and Darron. Once their helmets were off, they tucked them under their left arms, holding their right hands out to shake Daniel and Darron's.
"It's a pleasure," Martin said as Daniel reached out to shake Martin's hand.
"Nice to meet you Martin," Daniel responded as he shook his hand. Daniel then looked over at Thomas and shook his hand as well. He had a bright, welcoming smile on his face. The excitement of being somewhere new, somewhere where he's never been before made Daniel feel happy. The sad thoughts that were on his mind earlier were somehow pushed to the back of his mind. This was more important and exciting. He would go on to temporarily forget about the painful memories.
"And nice to meet you too, Thomas," Daniel said.
Thomas smiled as he shook Daniel's hand. He didn't respond though. That was a bit off, don't you think? Aren't all MineLantians considered nice and warm-hearted beings? Daniel didn't think too much of it. When he stopped shaking Thomas's hand, he backed away from him.
Borris leaned in closer to Daniel. He whispered into his ear silently, holding his hand up in front of his mouth so that no one else would hear what he was about to tell Daniel.
"If you think these folks are nice and outgoing, just wait until you meet the King," Borris whispered.
Daniel raised his eyebrows. His curiosity peaked after Borris had told him that. There's a king? Like an actual King? Daniel had to know more about the King of MineLantis.
"The King, huh?" Daniel said softly back to Borris as he looked back at Borris.
Borris smiled and chuckled. The facial expression on Daniel's face made Borris chuckle.
"You're so weird, you know that?" Borris said.
Daniel shrugged his shoulders and swayed his head back and forth a few times. "We get that a lot," Daniel said as he turned back around to look back at Calvin and Darron. Martin and Thomas had swam off, making their way to the front gates to patrol the exterior of the wall.
"Where are they going?" Daniel asked Calvin.
"The Kingdom's been on high alert ever since the rogue wave," Calvin began to explain, "we'll explain more when we get to the castle."
"Is it because of the Sirens?" Daniel asked, "if so, I already figured. They were the ones behind the rogue wave right?"
"Precisely, yes," Calvin said, "we mustn't talk about it. Not here. The King is enforcing a strict no blabbing rule until this Siren situation is under control."
Daniel laughed about what Calvin had just told him. "A no blabbing rule? How silly of a rule."
"It's only to keep the MineLantian people safe and panic-free," Calvin replied.
As they all began swimming towards the King's Castle, things far away on a tiny remote island weren't going as smoothly as one would think they were going. Ceres was still angry at Henry. Still upset about how Henry, once the leader of OasisVille, could betray his people and help the Brine Family. He had so many questions swirling around in his head. Questions that he could only get answers to if he asked them.
Henry was holding a torch in his left hand, and Annabelle's hand with his right hand. Ceres was walking right behind them, growling and mumbling things to himself. As for everyone else, they were all walking behind Ceres. The forest was dark and spooky. The moon's light casting strange shadows everywhere. Nightlife that populated the forest was roaming about freely. The hogs oinked loudly as they trekked throughout the dense forest.
But because the moon's light didn't shine all the way down to the forest floor, it made it seem much darker than it actually was. The path everyone was walking down was going right through the forest, but where was it taking them? Henry and whoever else lived here must've traveled through here many times in the past.
Henry stopped walking. He let go of Annabelle's hand. Now facing everyone else who was following behind him, he began to say something.
"Be careful up here everyone," Henry said, "we're going to cross a wide and deep ravine. The only problem is that there's no actual bridge. Just a toppled tree trunk. Proceed with caution."
After Henry warned everyone about the ravine just up ahead, he turned around. Annabelle held her hand out so that he could hold it once more. They both began walking again. Ceres rolled his eyes and huffed and puffed. Being angry was the only way he could show how he was feeling currently.
"Why don't you be careful, traitor!" Ceres mumbled silently to himself as he continued to follow them. Luckily though, neither of them heard what he was saying to himself.
Walking behind Ceres were Victoria, Frederick, Toby, and Notch. Along with everyone else who arrived on the island by hot air balloon. Wherever Henry's taking them, Ceres had a strange feeling that it wasn't going to be somewhere good. But he didn't know exactly where Henry was taking everyone. The only thing Ceres could do was speculate and guess. Even then, he'd find out that there were endless ideas as to where they were going.
"Why'd you do it?" Ceres finally asked Henry in a loud enough voice so that Henry could hear him. Henry turned his head to his right slightly. Annabelle looked up at him and wondered what he was doing.
"Do what?" Henry asked as he thought about what Ceres was talking about for a moment. Then when he realized what Ceres was saying, he nodded his head slowly. "Oh, I understand what you're talking about now."
"Good," Ceres said, "let's talk about it then!"
Henry shook his head. "Not here. Not in front of Annabelle."
"She deserves to know the truth about your past," Ceres said, "you're her father. Parents don't keep secrets from their children. So why are you?"
"She's a child, Ceres!" Henry shouted as he turned around to look Ceres directly in the eyes. Ceres, in return, could see the anger and frustration Henry was expressing.
"Knock it off, Ceres," Victoria said from a short distance behind him. Ceres turned his head slightly to his right. He rolled his eyes and scoffed. "This is not the place to discuss private matters, Ceres!" Victoria continued on to say.
Henry nodded his head once at Ceres. He turned around to grab Annabelle's hand again and proceeded walking forward once again. Ceres began mumbling things quietly to himself again as he began following Henry once more. But not long after they started walking again, Henry came to a stop once more. When he turned around, he made an announcement to everyone.
"We've arrived at the ravine," Henry said, "we're going to cross very carefully. Only two blockheads can go at a time. The tree trunk isn't very sturdy. Annabelle and I will go first, followed by all of you after. Okay?"
Everyone nodded their heads back at Henry, acknowledging that they understood what needed to be done. Henry faintly smiled at them as he turned around. Annabelle looked up at him as he looked down at her.
"Just like all the other times we've crossed, be careful sweetheart," Henry said.
"Okay papa," she responded.
Together, Henry and Annabelle took their first few steps forward onto the hazardous tree trunk. When they began walking on it, the trunk creaked and groaned under the weight of Annabelle and Henry combined. They ignored the creaking and groaning and continued trekking cautiously forward.
Down below, at the bottom of this ravine, tons of bubbling lava could be seen and heard. Henry looked down at the lava and gulped. "We're fine. Everything's fine. Just get to the other side. Then you're safe," he mumbled to himself.
As they came to the other side of the ravine, they stepped down off of the trunk and back onto solid ground. The two of them turned around to watch everyone else cross. Next up to cross were Ceres, Natasha and Ava. Natasha's husband stayed behind to wait for his turn to cross. Natasha held Ava's hand tightly as the two of them followed Ceres across the ravine. They all made it to the otherside.
As the next three blockheads began crossing, faint shouting voices could be heard nearby. Everyone froze in place as they all listened to the shouting voices become louder and louder. Henry and Annabelle knew exactly who was behind those shouting voices.
"It's the native islanders!" Annabelle said as she looked up at her father.
"I know," Henry responded as he began shouting at everyone again.
"Hurry up!" Henry shouted, "they're coming!"
"Who's coming?" Natasha asked as she looked back over her right shoulder. She wasn't the only one. Everyone else, including Victoria and Frederick began looking all around. After trying to find out where the voices were coming from, a group of natives came running out of the tree's and onto the pathway. They were laughing creepily as they began running up the path towards everyone else who hadn't crossed yet.
Victoria and Frederick counted six natives in all, but they never assumed that these natives were the only ones. There could be more. If so, where were they coming from? Were they hostile? Friendly? By the looks of how they were acting, they didn't seem like the friendly type of blockheads.
"Run!" Henry shouted as loudly as he could.
The natives were full of dirt and grime. They were almost naked, but not entirely. They were wearing brown shorts, but no shirts. In their hands, they were holding thick wooden bats. Ceres, Natasha, and Ava all began running across the tree trunk. There was regard for only allowing three blockheads to cross. As everyone began crossing over the ravine, the tree trunk was groaning and creaking under the immense weight. Surprisingly though, it wasn't giving way. Maybe this tree trunk was sturdier than Henry had thought it was. That information was good, but also bad.
Even when everyone crossed safely over to the other side, those natives would still follow them across the ravine. Not unless the tree trunk was destroyed. If it were to be destroyed, the native blockheads wouldn't have a way to get across, making it that much harder for them to chase after everyone.
As the last of everyone crossed, Henry quickly grabbed his iron axe out of his inventory. He walked over to the tree trunk and began hacking away. Everytime he hit the trunk, small wood chips flew everywhere as well as wooden dust particles. Toby walked over to Henry and began helping him chop away at the wood. Toby was using an enchanted golden axe.
The natives were getting closer to the ravine. But just as they arrived on the other side of the ravine, the tree trunk finally broke and began tumbling down into the lava pit below. Once it landed in the lava, it instantly began burning.
"Who are they?" Notch asked Henry, "why are they so hostile?"
As Henry put his iron sword back into his inventory, he turned around to answer Notch's questions. "They're native to this island. Before I arrived, this island was only for them."
"So they're mad then?" Notch questioned as he glanced over at the six native blockheads. They were breathing heavily and staring back at everyone. Also growling to show how intimidating and terrifying they could be.
"Yes," Henry responded, "they want this island to themselves. They don't want outsiders like you and I, living amongst them. This is their home apparently. Not ours."
As everyone else stood around, Ava walked over to Annabelle. Annabelle looked at her, waving her hand back at Ava. "Hi," Ava said, "I'm Ava."
"Hi Ava," Annabelle said in a soft, shy tone, " I'm Annabelle."
"How old are you?" Ava asked.
"Ten," she answered.
"That's cool," Ava said, "I'm eleven. Only one year older than you."
As Ava and Annabelle were talking to one another, Henry called out to Annabelle. "Annabelle?" he said, "where'd you wander off to now?"
Annabelle turned her head to her right to look over at her dad and then back at Ava. "I'm over here papa," she responded as she raised her arm and began waving at Henry. Henry looked over to his right. When he did, he saw that Ava and Annabelle were talking to each other.
"Come on you two," Henry said, "let's head back to our house."
"Okay papa," Annabelle said as she briefly glanced over at Ava. She smiled and held her left hand out. Ava grabbed her hand and held it tightly. Then the two of them began walking back over to Henry and the others.
"I can't wait for you to meet Hank," Annabelle said.
"Who's Hank?" Ava asked.
"Our dog," Annabelle answered.
Later that night…
Henry's House
"So why'd you do it?" Ceres asked Henry as he paced around the small room. Also present were Victoria and Frederick. They, too, were desperate for answers. They both had the same questions that Ceres has. Wanting to know why he did what he did, and an apology as well.
"My mind was corrupt, and my poor judgement clouded my actions," Henry answered, "I am no longer the blockhead I once was. I've changed. I've accepted my punishment for what I did. Thankfully I didn't get banished like EnderBrine. Or getting eaten by a fierce fire-breathing dragon like NetherBrine did."
"So instead of you being banished, you were forced to leave, weren't you?" Ceres asked, "but that still doesn't answer my question. Why? Why'd you do it?"
"I was promised ancient and powerful magic if I helped the Brine Family," Henry said, "that's why I chose to help them. It was never anything you guys did. This was my choice, not yours."
"You terrorized the OverWorld alongside the Brine Family," Ceres reminded, "causing pain and suffering to other blockheads. The damage you caused will forever be on our minds until the day we die."
"And I'm truly sorry for everything," Henry apologized not only to Ceres, but Victoria and Frederick as well.
"If you were sorry, you wouldn't have done those things," Ceres mentioned as he spun around and walked over to the oak wood door. He grabbed the handle and pulled it open, walking out of the room and into the hallway. He slammed the door shut behind him and stormed off down the hallway. Victoria and Frederick both glanced over at Henry.
"If it makes you feel better, I believe you. I believed that you've changed," Victoria mentioned as she looked back behind her at Frederick. "I'll go and talk to him."
Victoria walked over to the door and opened it. She exited the room and went back out into the hallway. The door carefully closed behind her on its own. She glanced over to her left and then over to her right. Ceres was nowhere to be seen. Where'd he wander off to anyways? But he couldn't have gotten very far; thanks to Henry and Annabelle's house being small.
"I'm over here," Ceres said as he came walking out from a different room. He stood just outside the room he was briefly in and leaned up against the wall. Victoria turned her head. She saw Ceres leaning up against the wall.
"What's bothering you, Ceres?" She asked, "you've never acted like this in the past. Henry's betrayal was so long ago. He's not who you think he is anymore. He's honestly changed."
Ceres crossed his arms as he glanced over at Victoria. "And you believe him, don't you?" He asked.
Victoria nodded her head. "I do. If I believe him, you should too. Stop being so stubborn and mean to him. Henry made a life for himself here on this island."
"That doesn't matter," Ceres said, "what does matter is that he's still a traitor. Not only to me, but the entire population that once thrived in OasisVille. He's still a monster deep down. It may seem like he's a nice blockhead on the outside, but deep down he's still evil."
Victoria sighed as she looked down at the floor. When she lifted her head back up, she looked over at Ceres once more.
"All I ask is that you acknowledge his change," Victoria mentioned, "do you think you could do that for me? If everyone else can forgive him, you can too."
"I'll only acknowledge his transformation from bad to good once I get more answers from him," Ceres replied to Victoria, "only then will I acknowledge that he's changed."
"Thank you," Victoria responded.
"Yeah," Ceres responded.