Chapter 14

Chapter 14 ANSWERS, AT LAST! AND LET THAT BE A LESSON: WHEN IN DOUET, ASK A LIBRARIAN. Weeks earlier, Ash and her friends had come across a village. It was a typical Minecraft village in every way, except for one detail: each night, the village was overrun by a massive number of hostile mobs. They'd solved that problem. They'd saved the village. And they had noticed, at the time, that the town librarian was a little bit unusual. They had assumed her oddness was simply another difference that the goggles produced in the game. But the librarian stood before them now. And

she honked, "HUUR…I AM MOST CERTAINLY NOT THE EVOKER KING." "Whoa," Po whispered. "Can villagers talk now? Was that in the latest update?" "I'M NOT A VILLAGER, EITHER," she honked. "Huur…not really." "So who are you?" asked Harper. "'The Librarian' will do for now…hahr," she answered. Everyone was trying to suppress giggles. Hearing actual words spoken in the typical villager voice was…ridiculous. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S BEEN HELPING

US," said Ash, making a mental leap while swallowing another giggle. "You've left potions behind for us. And the compass that led us to the underwater base." "AND I LEFT THE WARNING…HURR," the Librarian added. "'Beware the Evoker King.' Hahr…you didn't listen to that one. But… ahh…he's hard to avoid." "A warning?" Morgan said. "We thought it was a threat. We thought the Evoker King did that." "YOU HAVE THE SIXTH HEADSET," Harper said. "Don't you?" "But why go to all this trouble?" Po asked. "If you have the headset, you're at our school. Why not talk to us there?" "BECAUSE THE EVOKER KING HAS BEEN WATCHING," Jodi said. Like Ash, she was

connecting the blocks. "He's accessed the school's security system." "That's right," said the Librarian. "I'VE BEEN TRYING TO HELP WITHOUT DRAWING HIS NOTICE. Huur hurr…I think I've been successful so far." "Who is he?" Morgan asked. "Hahr…I'm still working on that," she answered. "But I'm not sure you're asking the right

question." "What does that mean?" Morgan asked. "Never mind for now," she said. "HE MAY BE ABLE TO TELL WE'RE COMMUNICATING, and he may be watching us right now so I'll make this quick. The source of his power— Huur…I don't know what it is, but I've traced it deep underground. IT'S LOCKED AWAY IN A DUNGEON AT THE VERY HEART OF THE OVERWORLD." "And you want us to go after it?" Po asked. The Librarian smiled again. "YOU'RE A GOOD TEAM…HAHR. And you're much better at battling monsters than I am." She placed her hands on her chest. "I'll do everything I can to help you when the Evoker King isn't watching. BUT I CAN'T DO THIS FOR YOU. Huur…all I can do is give you the tools you need to succeed. Hurr-hurr."

With that, the Librarian disappeared in a cloud of pixelated dust. Jodi removed her headset. She was sitting in the computer lab, and her head was spinning after so many revelations. "I don't know about you all," Po said. "But I'm more confused than ever." Morgan's frustration was written all over his face. "She said I wasn't asking the right question about the Evoker King," Morgan said. "What did that mean?" "You asked who he is," Jodi said. "Maybe…you should be asking what he is."