Chapter 2

I couldn’t believe my ears. Us kids, teens and tweens, actual members of the New Order of the Stone?! Then I realized something. They probably joined, no, founded the group when they were our age. Still, it seemed like a miracle from the sky. All of us kids stood in shocked amazement, then Leah let out a squeal of excitement. Jax grinned, and Avery looked at my brother with a mischievous smile on his face. Matt pumped his fist in the air, and I hugged his dad. “Thank you!” I managed to squeak out of my over-joyfully tight throat. Jesse laughed and patted my back.

“It was all of us that made the choice, not just me,” He told me. I backed off.

“Still, thank you,” I said again. Whether it was his choice as a whole or not, he still helped make the decision. Jax looked at them.

“Let’s go! Time to do hero stuff!” He shouted, and pulled out his sword. “I’m ready!”

Jesse laughed. “Unfortunately, there hasn’t been all that much of a problem lately.”

“That’s not true! There’s always a problem if there’s no adventure!” Ivor exclaimed. We all laughed, having all heard about the time when Ivor, and the entire New Order, had too much adventure and got stuck in the Portal Hallway, literally a hallway filled with portals. Dad had kept a journal of all of the adventures they had, only to have it lost in a dimension with people that made other people fight to the death. Everybody kept their memories, though, and they always told us stories of their escapades. We were always excited to hear one, but stories tend to differ from person to person. But whoever told the stories, they were full of tantalizing adventure that we’d never had. Now we’d be able to.

“So, when do we start?” I asked eagerly. Everyone looked at each other.

“I don’t think it’d be a good idea to start just yet. Remember, aren’t you going to EnderCon tomorrow? You can’t be there if you’re halfway across the world,” Dad put in. I nodded.

“I remember when we went to EnderCon,” Olivia said, “Remember the first time we beat the Ocelots?”

Dad chuckled. “When I was on their team? No, when I was stupid enough to be on their team,”

“The Ocelots? You mean, the people that decided to go rogue and become the Blaze Rods?” I asked. Dad nodded.

“I thought they were alright. Never in my life have I been so wrong.”

“What did they do? Why did they go bad?”

“Remember when I told you about the Witherstorm?”

I nodded. It was hard to forget that one. “Yeah.”

“Well, it got them. When they got out and saw me with Jesse, Olivia, Petra, and Axel, they assumed that I had abandoned them,” Dad said. He looked miserable. “They just wouldn’t leave us alone after that. Chased us all over everywhere.” Mom patted him on the back.

“Sometimes, Lukas, you just need to let things go,” She told him, “I don’t think they were really actual friends.”

Dad shrugged. “Maybe. But,” He said, and brought his head up, “This isn’t the time to be reminiscing over the past. Let’s show you guys around the base,” Dad grinned. “It’s pretty cool. And, if you want, you can build your own addition.”

“Awesome!” I exclaimed gleefully.

“I’m gonna make mine like a battle training room!” Jax put in. Jesse chuckled.

“He’s just like you, isn’t he, Petra?” He asked Mom. Mom laughed.

“Yep.”

“Well, there’s already a training room. But feel free to add to it, Jax.”

“Alright!” Jax cheered. Leah looked thoughtful.

“Knowing Mom,” She said, “I bet there’s already a redstone lab, right?”

“Yep,” Olivia nodded. “You’re welcome to use it!”

“Hey Dad?” Avery asked.

“Yeah?” Axel looked at his daughter. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering if there’s somewhere for us to blow stuff up at.”

Axel laughed. “You bet!”

Avery grinned. “Awesome! Let’s go!”

So, we got ready to get going. I asked if I could bring Mira. A strange look came across Jesse’s face. It was a sort of saddened look. I remembered what I had been told about his pig, Reuben. The pink animal had died saving Jesse.

“Sure, Ari,” He said, then turned away. I had never even seen the animal, yet I could feel his loss. If Mira died, well, I’d be really upset too. I went upstairs. Mira was curled up on the bed. I scratched her soft gray pelt, which consequently woke her up. The dog shook her head, the cyan collar that she wore shifting. I laughed, then called her downstairs. The other members of the Order were waiting on us. We went down, then everyone set off.

When we got into town, we were immediately greeted by the base. Actually, it was referred to on the sign as “The Order of the Stone HQ”, but let’s not get technical. There was a symbol made out of gold blocks and others hovering above the roof(Ah, the realistic physics of Minecraft.). We went inside. The building was constructed out of stone bricks, undoubtedly a play on the name, “The Order of the Stone”, with banners depicting redstone, TNT, swords...You get the jist. I watched in awe as Jesse moved one of them away and revealed a hidden lever. He hit the switch. Suddenly, the wall opened up. I recognized the sound of pistons. Occasionally, we would use them in our EnderCon builds. These revealed a small chamber. It didn’t have as much grandeur as the hallway, just a portal. The portal was enough to completely throw me off. It had a black frame. The inside looked almost like someone had dumped a potion into a pool of water. It was purple and swirly. Jax’s eyes went wide.

“A Nether Portal?!” He exclaimed. The adults grinned at each other.

“A Nether Portal,” Jesse confirmed. Jax eyed the portal with a mixture of excitement and caution. I knew why. We had heard of the creatures that call the Nether home. Zombie Pigmen, Magma Cubes, Ghasts, and Blazes all called the fiery dimension home. Add that to the constant threat of lava, fire, and magma always hanging over your head, and the Nether was the stuff of nightmares.

“Let’s go,” Jesse said, and went through the portal. The rest of the adults followed suit. I half expected Ivor to shout “Adventure!” but surprisingly, he didn’t. I gave a wary glance at Leah, shut my eyes, then stepped in.

When I walked out of the portal, I stumbled around blindly for a second. I was a little disoriented. Portal traveling can do that to you. I opened my eyes, and was startled to see that the world was strangely blurry. Thinking my glasses were smudged, I took them off, only to reveal that I could see clearly. We were in a building, made of crimson-ish brick. “What the…?” I muttered, blinking. Dad laughed.

“Looks like the Nether’s good for something other than minecart tracks,” He laughed.

“Hold on-Is this the Order’s secret passage thing?” I exclaimed.

“Yeah,” He said, “How do you know about it? It’s secret.”

“Well...I read about it. Actually, Jax read about it. In one of your journals.” At that moment, Jax and Avery burst through the portal. Apparently, they thought that it’d be easier if they took a running start. Matt did the same, crashing into me. Leah’s foot appeared through the portal. There was a distorted,

“Is it safe?” We assured her that she could come through. She literally jumped through and landed on her face. Avery just laughed, but Matt and I helped her up. Leah looked around, evidently checking for monsters that weren’t here.

“Don’t worry,” Mom said, a grin on her face, “We’re inside a transport facility specifically built to get us from place to place quicker. We won’t find any Blazes here.”

“Unfortunately,” Ivor grumbled. “I was hoping to get some Magma Cream or Blaze Rods.” This made Dad sigh, a sad-sounding sigh that made my heart break. I couldn’t imagine Leah or Matt or even Avery just getting up and turning against me. Even Avery was a close enough friend that he would stand by you if you needed it.

“Ahem,” Jesse said, interrupting my thoughts, “We should probably get heading to the base.” He pointed at a chain of minecarts. Dad looked at us kids slyly, the sad look disintegrating from his face.

“Riiiight. Okay, kids!” He turned around to face us fully. “Think of this as your initiation into the Order of the Stone.”

Axel grinned. “Remember your first time on the minecarts?” He asked Olivia, who blushed.

“Yeah,” She said, “You were there too. Swinging your arms everywhere like some crazy person.” I got the feeling that there was some defensiveness in her voice. Axel shrugged.

“Who says I’m not?”

“AHEM,” Jesse interrupted again. Jax was already in one of the minecarts with Avery. The duo was chatting with each other. Ivor was in the back. He looked impatient. Leah looked a little nervous. Olivia got into the minecart with Leah. I hopped in with Ivor. He looked at me, a little surprised.

“Hello, Ari,” He said. I grinned. Ivor always had something interesting to say about any situation. Minecart rides were fun, but they’re epic when there’s an epic story too.

Reviews

[DB Heinemann]

And I liked the story so much and also felt bad taking so long writing a review, I thought I'd review the second chapter, too. And usually I don't like the story SO much that I keep reading to the next chapter of my own free will, so congrats on that.
But anyways, that kind of reminiscing in the beginning about what the Order is and all would be good for the last chapter when the kids are collecting wood. You can even include a wistful Ari wondering if she'll ever be part of the Order. It'd definitely add more weight to when she does become a part of the Order.
Ari's dad's sigh at the end seems out of place. Ivor was just grumbling about wanting to kill some Blazes. But then that somehow made him think about his friends' betrayal? Weird connection.
And "hello Ari" isn't an especially interesting thing to say. Way to lower the bar, Ivor!
Not super sure how I feel about the last line, either. Seems like the end of the series rather than the end of the chapter. I'd suggest something a tad more cliffhang-y like one of the adults saying hold on as the turn the minecarts on and the plunge into darkness or something.
Otherwise, all good. Still interested.