Hidden in the Chest

by Winter Morgan

  “I’m drenched.” Brad rubbed his eyes. Raindrops clouded his vision, which weakened his aim. The skeletons advanced toward Brad, and Julia tried to shield him from the arrows, but it was impossible and Brad was destroyed.

  Julia wanted to find out who had stolen the treasure. She wondered if Karen had taken the treasures and was tricking everyone, but it was unlikely. Karen still stood in the center of the campus, threatening everyone. Her screams could be heard over the loud thunder.

  “Whoever took my treasures must be found. If not, you will be cursed with an eternal rainstorm.”

  As Karen made this announcement, the rain stopped. She looked up at the sky as Julia rushed to her and said, “Maybe you aren’t as powerful as you think.”

  “No,” Karen said. “Somebody must have returned my treasure.” She sprinted toward the Main Hall. Grabbing a shovel from her inventory, she began to dig into the wet ground. She pulled out a chest, opened it, and showed Julia its contents.

  Julia was shocked to see the chest was filled with diamonds, “When did they do this?”

  “I don’t know,” Karen said, “but it’s all mine.”

  Lucy sprinted over to Karen. The rest of the faculty followed behind her. “You can’t keep that treasure.”

  “You must be joking.” Karen laughed at Lucy’s comment.

  “You’re going to prison. You’re a thief and you’ve caused damage to our school and your rainstorms have stopped our students from attending classes.”

  “Now that I have my treasures, I will be on my way,” Karen said. “And don’t try to stop me. I am the one who is controlling these storms. I have all the power. If you let me go, you will have peace on the campus. This is your choice. I control it all.”

  Before they could respond, the skies darkened and lightning struck the clock tower attached to the Main Hall. Karen looked up in shock.

  “Guess you can’t control everything.” Lucy plunged her sword into a distracted Karen.

  A lightning bolt shot through the sky and struck Karen, and she disappeared.

  “Where did she go?” Julia asked.

  “Was she destroyed?” Brad asked.

  Nobody had answers as zombies spawned on the Great Lawn, ripping every door and attacking every student in their path. The campus was overrun with zombies. Julia held her breath to avoid the strong smell of rotting flesh. She grabbed the last bit of potions from her inventory, splashing them on the zombies that circled around her. She let out a large breath as she battled three zombies with her sword. Emma raced to her side and helped Julia escape.

  “Mia said she saw Karen,” Emma called out to Julia.

  “Where?” Julia asked, but she couldn’t hear Emma’s reply because she was destroying a zombie that stood inches away from her. “What did you say?” Julia asked.

  “Karen is in—” Emma said as a skeleton’s arrow pierced her unarmored arm and she was destroyed.

  Julia turned around to see the skeleton standing behind her, and before she had a chance to defend herself, she also fell victim to the skeleton’s arrow. Julia spawned in her bed. She could see Emma sitting up in her bed.

  “The skeleton got you too?” Emma asked.

  “Yes,” Julia replied, “but you have to tell me where Karen is hiding.”

  “I saw her in the dining hall,” Emma said. “I think Mia and Cayla have trapped her over there.”

  “We have to go there,” Julia said.

  The duo sprinted under soggy skies, slipping on the grass as they sprinted toward the dining hall. Cayla called out to them, “We’ve got her here. Come here!”

  Karen was standing by a counter in the cafeteria as Mia, Cayla’s mom, and Brad surrounded her. Cayla’s mom was interrogating Karen. “Tell us how you are controlling these storms. We all know that curses don’t really exist in the Overworld.”

  “They don’t?” Karen smiled.

  “No,” Cayla’s mom replied. “We need to know how you’ve done this. If you don’t tell us—”

  “What are you going to do to me?” Karen snickered. “Put me in prison?”

  Lucy stormed into the dining hall. “Yes, we would. Don’t laugh. We’ve done it to other criminals.”

  “I’m not a criminal,” Karen defended herself. “I’m a treasure hunter.”

  A zombie ripped the door to the dining hall from the hinges and lumbered into the center of the dining hall.

  Julia gasped as an army of zombies marched into the dining hall with their arms extended and mouths gaping in search of new flesh.

  Chapter 16

  ACCIDENTAL ANSWERS

  The zombies gathered the dropped weapons from their conquests and were carrying diamond swords, diamond armor, bows and arrows, and clutching unknown potions.

  Karen laughed. “Looks like you have some unwanted company.”

  Julia fearlessly sprinted toward the zombies as she struck each with her sword, but she was no match for an army of armed zombies and was destroyed. When she awoke in her bed, she was shocked to see the sun was shining. She rushed toward the window and saw students standing on the Great Lawn.

  Cayla rushed into Julia’s room. “She’s missing.”

  “Who’s missing?” Julia asked.

  “Karen. She escaped in the middle of the zombie battle,” Cayla explained.

  Cayla’s mom appeared at the door. “We have to find Karen. I know she is controlling these storms, and we have to stop her.”

  “Do you think she’s back on Mushroom Island?” Julia asked.

  Lucy, Henry, and Max walked into Julia’s room. Lucy announced, “I want you guys to find Karen. I think Henry and Max should join you. I will stay here with Steve and watch the campus.”

  “I can’t believe she got away,” Brad said as he walked into the dorm room.

  The small room was crowded with people, and Julia felt overwhelmed. She was upset that she was destroyed by the zombie and wasn’t there to stop Karen from escaping. Yet Julia knew she couldn’t focus on what happened; she had to plan what to do next. She agreed to go on the journey to find Karen.

  Lucy suggested, “I think you should go to Mushroom Island.” As Lucy spoke, Johnny sprinted into the room.

  “I know where Karen is hiding,” Johnny announced breathlessly.

  Steve ran into the room. “I was looking all over for you guys. I found something, and I think you should all see it.”

  “What is it? I think we found Karen,” Lucy said.

  “This is more important.” Steve didn’t have time to explain. He simply yelled, “Follow me,” and sprinted out of the room.

  The gang followed Steve across the campus to a patch of land by the dining hall that was shaded by trees.

  “Why are you taking us to the dining hall?” Lucy called out.

  “You have to see this!” Steve hollered back, leaning over a hole in the ground. “Look what I found.”

  Lucy’s eyes widened. Julia stood next to her, inhaling deeply, and asked, “Is that a chest? Please don’t take anything out of it.”

  Steve dug around the chest, revealing a redstone wire. “See? I think we’ve gotten our answer. This is how she’s been controlling everything.”

  “What is that?” Cayla asked.

  “It’s a redstone wire,” Steve said. “And it’s attached to a command block.” Steve walked the length of the wire until he reached the command block. He slammed his sword against the command block, breaking into pieces. Once it was destroyed, he said, “I have an extremely accurate weather prediction. We’re going to have sunny skies from now on.”

  “I knew there weren’t any curses in Minecraft,” Cayla’s mom said. “I knew she was controlling the storm.”

  “Well, now that we found out her trick, we have to find her,” Lucy said.

  “Johnny, where is she?” Henry asked.

  There was no reply. Johnny was missing. The gang called out his name as they searched the campus, but he never replied. Julia stopped when she heard a faint cry for h
elp.

  “Did anyone hear that?” Julia asked.

  “No,” Emma said.

  “Can we just stand still for a second? I thought I heard someone call out for help,” Julia said.

  The group huddled together in silence. In the distance they could hear someone call out for help.

  “Where is that coming from?” Lucy asked.

  “It sounds like Johnny,” Emma said.

  “Karen must have come back to the campus,” Cayla’s mom said.

  “I’m sure she’s really upset that we discovered the redstone wire and the command blocks. Now all of her treasure is vulnerable,” Steve said.

  “Yes, she has to be on campus,” Lucy agreed. “She wouldn’t want anybody stealing her valuable treasures.”

  Steve pointed to the farm. “That’s where most of the treasure chests were found. We should head over to the farm.”

  The gang rushed toward the farm and grabbed shovels from their inventories, digging into the farm’s surface.

  “Found one,” Mia called out.

  “Me too,” Emma said.

  They opened the chests. Mia was the first to yell, “Oh no! It’s empty.”

  “I hope she wasn’t able to loot all of the treasure chests,” Emma said.

  Julia kept digging. She wanted to find a treasure chest that was still filled with treasures. Her shovel banged against a chest. Julia pulled it from the ground and opened it.

  “This one is full of diamonds.” Julia plucked a diamond from the chest and looked up at the sky. Nothing happened. The sky was sunny. She grabbed another diamond from the chest, but there were no storms.

  Lucy smiled. “Steve, you really saved the day by discovering the redstone wire.”

  “Now, if I could only find Karen,” Steve said.

  Brad spotted a purple jacket in the distance and called out, “Johnny!”

  Johnny screamed, “Help me!”

  On further inspection, Julia noticed a diamond sword at Johnny’s back, but there was nobody holding it. Julia called to her friends, “Karen is here. She’s invisible!”

  The gang sprinted toward Johnny and the invisible Karen, but as they sprinted across the campus, Johnny disappeared from their sight.

  “Where did he go?” Julia asked.

  “I don’t know, but we have to find them,” Steve said.

  Cayla’s mom said, “I think they’re going back to Mushroom Island. I believe Cayla is hiding treasures in a cave on the island.”

  “We have to teleport there right now,” Lucy said.

  “All of us?” Julia said.

  “Yes,” Lucy replied, as the entire gang readied themselves to teleport to Mushroom Island.

  Chapter 17

  CONFESSIONS

  “Do you see them?” Julia placed a torch on the wall of the dimly lit cave.

  “No,” Lucy called out, “but I think I see something.”

  The group walked carefully into the dark, musty cave. “What is it?” Julia asked.

  “Come here! It looks like there is a stronghold.” Lucy opened a door, revealing a large room made of mossy stone brick. There was a large fountain in the middle of the room.

  The gang entered the stronghold. “I bet she’s storing her loot in here,” Brad remarked.

  “It looks like there’s a wooden door on the other side of the room,” Mia said.

  “Should we open it?” Julia asked.

  Lucy walked across the room, past the fountain, and opened the wooden door. The minute she opened the door, they could hear someone cry out for help.

  “Is that Johnny?” asked Julia, who sprinted through the wooden door and down a hall.

  Two red eyes peered at her as Brad called out, “Watch out!”

  Julia hit the cave spider, destroying it, but her battle wasn’t over yet. Silverfish crawled on the floor of the stronghold, and they bit everyone’s feet.

  “We have to destroy these silverfish,” Mia said as she sipped a potion of strength and passed it along to her friends. “They are slowly depleting our energy.”

  “Help!” Johnny’s cries were louder, but his voice sounded weaker. Julia was worried about him, and crushed the silverfish with her feet as she raced toward the sound of his cries.

  “Where are you?” Julia called out to Johnny.

  “In the prison.”

  “Prison?” Julia asked, and she reached a small prison made of iron bars. “How can we get you out of here?” Julia looked at Johnny on the other side of the bars.

  The rest of the gang arrived. Brad explained, “We had to battle silverfish.”

  “We have to get Johnny out of here,” Julia looked at him and tried to formulate a plot.

  A voice boomed through the stronghold. “How nice. You’re trying to save Johnny. Is he your friend now? You guys are so caring.”

  They turned around to see Karen. Diamond armor covered her green dress, and her red hair flowed over her shoulders. She pointed her diamond sword at the group.

  “Give yourself up,” Lucy said.

  “You’ve asked me to do that before. Can you give me one reason why I should let you guys put me in a prison?”

  “You have no power in the Overworld. We found out how you were controlling the storms on our campus, and we’ve destroyed your command blocks,” Steve said.

  Johnny called out, “She has a bunch of other plans. She is trying to take over the Overworld.”

  “Stop it, Johnny. It’s not nice to tell secrets.” Karen slammed her sword against the iron bars and Johnny sprinted to a corner of the prison, trying to hide himself from Karen.

  “Leave Johnny alone,” Steve said, as he told Johnny to teleport to him and get out of the prison cell.

  Lucy splashed a potion on Karen, weakening her. “We will find out what your other plans were from Johnny. You’re outnumbered. There’s no escape.”

  Tears filled Karen’s eyes. “Did you find my treasure chest filled with diamonds on the campus?”

  “Why do you want to know?” Lucy asked.

  “It was the only one I couldn’t remove from the campus. I’d like it,” Karen said.

  “Are you serious?” Lucy was shocked. “Why in the world do you think we’d give that to you?”

  “I’m very attached to my treasures,” Karen said.

  “You stole them from the students when we attended Minecrafters Academy. You should return them,” Cayla’s mom said.

  “But they’re mine. They probably don’t even remember that they were stolen,” Karen reasoned.

  “I think they remember. We should contact all of the students that went to school when we did and let them know they can claim their old treasures,” Cayla’s mom suggested.

  “No, they’re mine,” Karen screamed.

  “You’re coming with us,” Lucy demanded.

  Brad, Emma, Mia, Cayla, Johnny, Henry, and Max all pointed their swords at Karen and surrounded her; she knew there was no escape. Her eyes swelled with tears and her voice cracked as she begged, “I know what I did was wrong. Okay. I confess. Can you let me go?”

  “No,” Lucy said. “You’re going to the bedrock prison on our campus. I will make sure you have a prison cell with a window, so you can watch as all the people you stole from come and claim their old treasures.”

  “But they’re mine. All mine,” Karen cried, as they forced her to teleport to Minecrafters Academy.

  Chapter 18

  FARM LIFE

  When the last treasure chest was accounted for and the campus was at peace with Karen inside the bedrock prison, Steve started to work on the campus farm. His students, Nick and Jaime, joined the crew as they dug holes and created a new irrigation system.

  Steve placed the irrigation system underneath the dirt, explaining each step to creating a working farm. “Another important aspect to farming is seeds,” Steve said as he placed seeds down for an apple tree.

  “I can’t wait to eat the apples from the tree,” Emma said.

  “It takes a
while,” Steve said. “It’s best if we don’t focus on the seeds we planted, but what we else we can do to improve the farm. Sure, we have to tend to the seeds, but if we watch or wait for them, it won’t be the best use of our time.”

  Everyone agreed. Nick said, “Yeah, watching grass grow is boring.”

  “Yes,” Steve said and then asked, “What else would you like to plant on the campus?”

  “Potatoes,” Emma said.

  “Carrots,” Mia added.

  Julia asked, “Once we’ve completed the farm and have our first harvest, can we celebrate with a dinner on campus where we serve all of the fresh vegetables from our garden?”

  “What a fantastic idea,” Steve said.

  The sun shone as the gang worked on the farm. Lucy walked over to the group and commended them on their good work. “I hear there’s a competition in the Overworld for the best farm. Should I enter this one?”

  “Please, I don’t want to be in another competition,” Emma confessed. She had had her share of competitions with the Minecrafters Academic Olympics.

  Steve said, “We just started working on the farm, and we’d like to enjoy it first before we share it with the world.”

  “That makes sense,” Lucy said. “But keep up the good work. I’m glad you were able to join us for this school year, Steve.”

  “Me too,” Steve said.

  Cayla said, “I know we’re far from Mushroom Island, but is it possible for us to grow mushrooms on our farm?”

  “Yes,” Steve said. “But due to light’s impact on their growth, we have to plant them in a structure.”

  Cayla looked up at the sky. “Since we have a long time before it’s night, can we start the mushroom farm now?”

  “Certainly,” Steve said, and asked the others if they would be interested in constructing the mushroom farm.

  “If it involves building and farming, I’m totally in,” Julia said. Brad agreed.

  Everyone was excited to learn how to grow mushrooms.

  “We need torches. We can’t have monsters spawn on our mushroom farm. As I said, there is a delicate balance of lighting to get the mushrooms growing properly,” Steve said.

  The gang pulled torches from their inventories and worked together to build the structure for the mushrooms to grow properly. The sun was out, and Julia smiled as she built the two-block-tall structure. Julia couldn’t wait for their crops to grow and to share their food with the other students. With all the drama behind them, the gang was excited for the rest of the school year at Minecrafters Academy.