The Withered Rose

Chapter 2: Battle of the Ages - Notch's Base

Chapter 2:

Silence.
Pure silence.

Notch sighed, pacing the floor of his designing room. He looked around at his sketches, his meticulous calculations, his concepts and all-around history of the very world he had crafted, wondering just why it couldn't have stayed the way it had once been.

Minecraftia....what has happened to you?

He stepped over to the left wall, where his golden crafter's axe hung gleaming- ready to be used for war at any time.

This world was not meant for war. It was meant for people to love. Something someone could just dive into, create their wildest fantasies, and live them.

Hanging his head, Notch grew even more saddened.

Now, its just a place where forces strive for mastery- I hate it. Every day.....is survival.

The door to the room opened quickly, the sound of badly-oiled hinges raking out. Steve- Notch's best fighter- burst into the room, out of breath.

"Steve? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"They're everywhere! Notch, they're everywhere..!"

"What are?"

Notch completely snapped out of his musing, alert to whatever danger Steve was going on about.

"It isn't the flying fish glitch again, is it..?"

"Oh for....no!" Steve cried, obviously in a fluster, "Mobs! Herobrine's forces are closing in, Notch, and I've never seen so many in my entire life!"

"What?!"

Notch grabbed his axe and ran over to the window. Looking over the courtyard of his immense quartz-pillared base, he could see the trees of the forest beyond moving as if.....

Wait. Those aren't trees.

What he had thought to be the green blanket of forest beyond his abode was indeed, a living, flowing sea of zombies- Notch's heart skipped a beat as he realized the immensity of the overwhelming number of beasts headed their way.
"Send out the warriors," Notch barked, rushing past Steve down the stairs.
"There's not nearly enough!! Our forces wouldn't amount to half that freaking army out there!" Steve shouted, scurrying after him.

"It will be enough," Notch confirmed, turning back to face him, "Because this time, will be the last time."

"What do you mean?"

Both the crafter and the fighter had now reached the base's arsenal. Steve followed closely as Notch made a beeline for a covered pedestal on the far end of the room.

"This. This is what I mean."

Notch yanked off the cloth, to reveal the most incredibly detailed sword Steve had ever seen. It glowed with a bright cerulean hue, thrumming with the flowing energy of a strange golden liquid streaked within its design. At the base of its handle was a hollow crystal orb, suspended in a sleek steel handle wrapped in horse leather.

"A fancy sword?" Steve asked, somewhat confused, "How is this going to cut down that horde out there?"

"Its not just any sword," Notch explained, "I have been working on this since the first day Herobrine made himself known. Draining a little of my own power into this, every month, then recovering- and just a week ago, I put in the final touches."

He took it from the pedestal, giving it a quick look-over before extending it to Steve. The young man took it, awed at its glowing complexity.

"This sword....it is the only thing that can truly destroy Herobrine and his Queen," Notch gravely continued, "If stabbed into a seemingly immortal target, it will take their very codes, and disintegrate them into an irrecoverable form of energy. Then, that code-energy becomes stored in that crystal orb- on the end there- for all eternity. If you can....eliminate, those two, then their armies will fall. With all hope, this can end the Wars of Minecraftia for good."

"But...but there's no way I could reach even one of them before those mobs overtake us," Steve whimpered, "What if the sword is lost before I can do that?"

"I'll take care of the armies," Notch replied, hurrying past him again, "You just focus on one thing, and one thing alone- getting rid of that glitch and his wife."

"But what do you intend to do?"

The bearded man paused for a moment by the door. He lowered his head almost shamefully, set his jaw...clearly, unhappy with what he would have to do.

"I'm....I'm going to call in a reinforcement," he replied.

"A big reinforcement."

- End of Chapter 2