1 The Crystal [Ch. 1]

OverWorld

The Forbidden Cave

"Behold—the Crystal of Life," HeroBrine said as both his brother NetherBrine and his father EnderBrine both gazed at the glowing, rotating white crystal.

"So the legend is true?" NetherBrine said as he glanced to his right at HeroBrine.

HeroBrine grabbed a piece of paper out of his backpack and waved it around in the air. "According to this paper I took from a book, yes."

"It's truly remarkable," EnderBrine said.

NetherBrine's head was on fire with his eyes glowing red. Smoke particles rose into the air as his head continued to burn. NetherBrine was the demented king of the underworld; also known as the Nether.

EnderBrine's purple eyes glowed. Small, purple particles floated away from his body, almost as if he was a nether portal. He is the King of the End World.

HeroBrine's eyes were white. His skin was a light tan. He wore a blue shirt, and brown pants with black shoes. HeroBrine lived in the OverWorld in his mansion in which he called HeroBrine's Mansion. Surrounded by zombies, possessed chickens and cows, and skeletons, no one dared to venture onto his property.

The cave they were in was dark. The eerie sounds of zombies groaning and moaning, skeletons bones clicking, and spiders screeching could be heard all around them, but they weren't bothered by the scary sounds.

"Remind me what happens when we remove the crystal from the glass block?" EnderBrine asked.

"Mineaggedon," HeroBrine responded, "and once it starts, it can't be stopped. No fool will dare try and stop us, not even Merlin himself."

"Ugh don't say that name around me! He's a threat to our very existence!" EnderBrine demanded.

"My apologies Father."

"Now who would like to do the honors of taking the crystal?" EnderBrine asked.

"I will," NetherBrine said as he stepped forward ever so closer to the crystal. And once he was standing right next to it, he snatched it up fairly quick. "And now Mineaggedon begins."

OasisVille Village, OverWorld

Morning

The cows moo'd, and the chickens clucked. It was a bright, sunny day. There were some clouds in the sky, but not much. Everyone was just beginning to wake up from a peaceful night of sleep.

The farmers were tending to their crops of wheat, carrots, and potatoes. The Beekeepers were releasing their bees to begin their day of collecting pollen. The Blacksmith's shop had just opened up for the day. The sounds of metal being hammered into shape echoed throughout the village.

As for Daniel, he was walking down to the river with his pet dog Maximus. It was an ordinary routine morning for Daniel. Every morning he would take Max down to the river for a morning swim.

But as any dog would do, Max went chasing after a running bunny into the Dark Oak Forest that was nearby.

"MAX!" Daniel shouted as he started chasing after his dog. Max had disappeared into the dark, monster filled forest. Daniel gulped as he stopped running at the forest's edge.

Daniel grabbed his iron sword out of his backpack. Does Daniel dare enter the forest alone with only an iron sword to protect him? Of course he did.

As he entered the forest, the sunlight slowly disappeared. It was being blocked out by the massive dark oak trees and their roof of leaves. No wonder zombies, skeletons, and spiders liked it here so much. It was dark.

As he crept cautiously deeper into the forest, the sounds of zombies groaning and spiders screeching became more apparent.

Being alone in the dark was risky for a blockhead like Daniel. Especially because he only had nine hearts. Even being smacked by a zombie once, caused one heart to disappear. But Daniel needed to be brave.

"Maximus!" Daniel whispered, "where are you? Come out wherever you are now!"

As Daniel was walking by a bush, the bush began to rustle. Daniel jumped due to being frightened by the sudden movement of the bush. He squinted his eyes as he focused his attention on the bush.

"Max? Is that you?" Daniel said as the bush rustled again.

Daniel was shaking he was so scared. What was behind that bush? He wanted to find out, but was too chickeny to get any closer.

Then the thing inside of the bush jumped out.

"Ahhh! Don't eat me Mr. Zombie!" Daniel cried as he quickly closed his eyes. He was swinging his sword around in front of him.

A chicken clucked, staring ominously at Daniel. Daniel opened his eyes and was relieved to see that it was just a chicken. But there was something off about this chicken. It's eyes were all white, almost as if it didn't have any pupils.

"You're an odd little fella aren't you?" Daniel said as he stared at the small chicken. It then walked away.

"That was odd," Daniel said to himself as he continued walking deeper into the forest. Suddenly, he could hear a dog barking frantically in the near distance. Could it be Maximus? Let's find out.

Daniel ran in the direction from where the dog barking was heard. As he approached the location, he saw Max growling at a zombie.

"Max!" Daniel shouted as the Zombie turned its green head at Daniel. "Uh oh."

The Zombie started walking towards Daniel. Max stood his ground, still growling at the Zombie. "Max. Come here now!"

"Oh for Pete's sake, Daniel!" Petra, an adventurer and cartographer, said as she jumped down from the tree and ran towards the zombie.

She had her diamond sword drawn. Once she was close enough to the zombie, she swung her sword two times. She inflicted heavy damage, killing the zombie. The zombie's body fell over and disappeared into thin air, dropping two pieces of rotten flesh. Petra picked the rotten flesh up and put it into her backpack, but not before she gave Max a piece as a treat.

"Good boy," Petra said Max barked at her.

"What do you plan on using that for?" Daniel asked.

"I can make a hunger potion with it. There's always a use for rotten flesh," Petra said as she looked back at Max. "C'mon boy."

Max began following Petra and Daniel as they were now walking back towards the village. Both Daniel and Petra were walking alongside one another.

"You'll never guess where I've been," Petra said.

"Hiding in the trees?" Daniel responded.

"No dork! I went to the End. Fought many Endermen and even took on the Ender Dragon myself! It was a perilous battle, but it ended in my victory."

"Amazing! How did you manage to defeat the Dragon?"

"Electra wings and some Ender pearls. EnderBrine's Dragon didn't stand a chance."

"Who's EnderBrine?" Daniel asked curiously. Petra stopped walking. She stared at Daniel.

"You're kidding right?"

"Kidding about what?"

"Oh chickens. You truly don't know of the legend of the Brine Family do you?"

"I'm happy to say I don't. Sounds sinister."

"It is."

Petra pulled a glowing book out of her backpack and opened it up. The title on the cover was The Scary Legend of the Brine Family. The author of this book was unknown.

"Who wrote this?"

"Someone who wanted to remain anonymous of course. This is the only book in the entire OverWorld. No other book is like it."

The first three paragraphs of the book read:

Once upon a time, there was peace among the lands of the OverWorld. Until, that is, when the Brine Family emerged from an evil dimension.

HeroBrine, EnderBrine, and NetherBrine all came to the OverWorld seeking to rule the entire world. But, as luck would have it, Queen Annabelle and her Kingdom's noblest warriors fought the Brine Family, banishing all but one of them to different dimensions of the BlockVerse.

HeroBrine escaped narrowly, going into hiding somewhere in the OverWorld. NetherBrine was banished to the Nether World, and EnderBrine was cast away to the End World.

Daniel closed the book. He handed it back to Petra.

"I can't read anymore. It's giving me the chills."

"Scaredy-cat!" Petra said.

"I am not!"

"Are too!" Petra said. "Don't be so scared. It's only a scary story."

"Is it true?"

Petra shook her head. "Whoever wrote this book, probably only came up with the idea to spook those who were scared easily. I don't believe in these types of fairy tales."

Maximus suddenly started barking at a mysterious block on the ground. Daniel and Petra both looked at him and walked over to him. They looked down at the brown block on the ground among the grass. Skulls could be seen moving around on the block.

"Step back!" Petra said, "I know what that block is!"

"What is it?"

"Soul sand. I've seen it before when I ventured to the Nether."

The single soul sand block multiplied from a single block to six blocks wide, spooking Maximus to the point of him running off again back towards the Village.

"This could only be possible if—," Petra said as she opened the book about the Brine Family again and flipped through a couple of pages. "If the Crystal of Life is taken."

"A crystal of what?" Daniel said.

"The Crystal of Life. It's a crystal that gives life to the OverWorld."

"Interesting."

"We need to warn Henry! The OverWorld is in danger," Petra said.

Petra slammed the book shut and immediately began running for the Village. Daniel didn't hesitate to follow her.

"Don't leave me behind! I'll die!" Daniel shouted.

"Put that iron sword to good use! Then you won't die silly!" Petra shouted in return.

"I will soon enough!"

Once back in broad daylight, Daniel felt a sense of relief. Not being in that spooky, dark forest made him happy. Villagers wandering about the Village stared at Petra and Daniel as they ran toward Henry's house.

Henry was the Village leader and Protector. For example, when Zombies invade the village and start pounding on doors of houses, Henry is there to take those pesky mobs down with his enchanted golden sword and potion of poison.

Once they got to Henry's small house, Petra began pounding on his door. After pounding on his door a couple of times, Henry opened the door.

"Petra? Daniel? What's going on?" Henry asked. "Come in, come in. I don't want to cause a disturbance. You know how easily spooked the villagers are."

Petra and Daniel, along with Maximus, all entered his house. The door closed behind Daniel as he stepped on the wooden pressure plate on the oak wood floor.

"Henry. I have some news—," Petra said as Daniel interrupted.

"We. We have some news."

"We have some concerning news regarding the story of the—," Petra said as Henry interrupted.

"The Brine Family legend?" Henry questioned as he turned his back. His hands were behind his back. "I had a feeling you were going to say that."

"How did you know what I was going to say?" Petra asked.

"Because the legend is true. You may not know it, but there are such things as a Crystal of Life. I've happened to see it with my own two eyes. It's truly magnificent. But if you are going to tell me that there's a patch of soul sand ever so growing inside the Dark Oak Forest, no need to warm me any further."

"And why is that? You're the protector of the village."

"It first appeared last night. I was walking in the forest, fighting off nearby mobs when it appeared. It startled me at first, but then I realized that the soul sand meant only one thing."

"What's that?" Daniel asked.

"Mineaggedon. The end of the OverWorld as we know it."

"Mineaggedon?" Daniel questioned to see if he heard that term right.

Henry turned around to face Petra and Daniel. "Indeed. Mineaggedon is upon us my friends. But there is hope. If we can find whomever removed the Crystal from the Forbidden Cave, Mineaggedon can be stopped. But…"

"What now? There's always a catch isn't there?"

"The only living blockhead who knows where to find the Forbidden Cave is the great and powerful warlock Merlin. He supposedly lives in the Jungle to the East. It's a perilous adventure that only the bravest blockheads would ever consider taking."

"Then leave it to us," Petra said, "Daniel and I shall make way for the Jungle in search of Merlin."

"I didn't agree to this! I'm staying put here—where it's safe!" Daniel said.

"Too late. Pack your bags Daniel. Come nightfall, we're going on an adventure."

"I'll have Ceres come with you. He'll assist you two and keep you safe."

Ceres was the Village's master of magic. You could consider him a powerful wizard. And a wizard he was.