CHAPTER 21
AFTER WE’D DEFEATED THE WITHER, AUNT ALEXANDRA, Alex, and their fellow villagers began rebuilding their homes. Ossie came out of hiding, safe and sound. Without all the Nether mobs attacking them, it didn’t take long for the villagers to fix up their places well enough for the night. They would take care of the extra work in the morning. If someone didn’t have the right supplies for their home, another person would help them out.
Dad, Maison, Destiny, and I all helped Alex and Aunt Alexandra in rebuilding their house, while Yancy rested to the side. “That was some smart thinking, Stevie!” Alex crowed. “We sure make a great team!”
I knew she meant all of us, including my Earth friends, Maison, Destiny, and Yancy. I cast a look at Dad and didn’t say anything.
“Yeah,” I said. “You’re crazy for adventure, Alex, but when we’re in a pinch, you’re a great person to have around.”
That got her to laugh in delight.
Then Dad, Maison, Destiny, Yancy, and I went to our village to let them know the Wither had been taken care of. I carried Ossie, and we brought the Earth portal with us. The villagers near our home had also taken the time to fix up their village. We brought Yancy back to what was left of our home, where Dad gave him food and milk. By the time he was done eating and drinking, Yancy was good as new.
“What are you going to do about your house, Steve?” Destiny asked Dad once she was convinced Yancy was fine.
“I’ve built a few smaller houses, so we’ll sleep in one of those tonight,” Dad said. “Tomorrow, we’ll start fixing this up.”
“We’ll fix up the tree house, too, Stevie,” Maison told me. “The next time I visit the Overworld. We’ll make it even better than before! I have some new ideas I want to try.”
“It’s too bad it takes so much longer to make things on Earth,” Yancy said. “In Minecraft you can work really fast. I’m thinking of those houses that were destroyed by the earthquake.”
“I can help,” Dad had said.
I stared at Dad. We all stared at Dad. Didn’t Dad not like Earth? We had the Earth portal sitting in the room with us, and it gave me an idea.
That night, after the sun set, we went through the portal to Earth, taking Dad with us. We made sure to head out late so that people would be at home and not paying attention if any blocky-looking Overworld citizens were walking the streets. Yancy had something called a “driver’s license” and he squeezed all of us into his car and drove us to the houses that needed fixing. Dad thought the car was the most absurd thing he’d ever seen until he saw how fast it could go. Then he was trying to figure out how to make one for himself and was frustrated when Yancy couldn’t tell him.
“This is the damage your earthquake has done?” Dad asked as we surveyed the damaged houses.
“Yes. You can see it’s a lot,” Maison said. “The people who live here are staying in shelters tonight.”
“This is easily fixed,” said Dad, being the master crafter he was. “You kids keep an eye out for mobs while I take care of this.”
Maison and I exchanged amused looks. Dad still didn’t understand how Earth was different from the Overworld!
Since we didn’t really have to keep a lookout for mobs, we all pitched in with Dad, setting the house back up. It was a little confusing for Dad at first since not everything was in a blocked shape, but the people who’d worked on the houses during the day had left their supplies for the night. Within a couple hours, all the houses in the area were fixed and ready to be lived in again.
“I can’t wait until morning, when the owners see this!” Maison said excitedly. “I’m sure they’ll be so happy!”
“They’ll never know who did it, either,” Yancy said.
“They don’t have to know,” Dad said. “What’s important is that it’s done.”
He turned and looked slowly at me. “I think it’s time Stevie and I go back through the portal to the Overworld,” he said. “I will see all of you again later.”
I was a little surprised by his tone. He wasn’t rudely telling them to stay away, but he was making it clear he wanted some alone time with me. Was he still trying to do that whole father-son day thing? That had started this morning, though it felt like a million years ago!
“I’ll see you guys later!” I told my friends after Yancy had driven us back to Maison’s house so we could use her computer as a portal to return. “And hopefully next time we won’t have to deal with any more mobs.”
Maison smiled. “I think Alex’s love of adventure is starting to rub off on me,” she said. “If there ever is another mob like Herobrine or the Wither, you know we’ll be there for you.”
“Yeah,” Destiny said. “Our whole lives have changed since we met you, Stevie. We do everything together now.”
Even if Dad didn’t like me going back and forth between the worlds, I knew my friends understood why I did it. I thought about how I’d first met Maison as a bullied, insecure girl, and Destiny and Yancy as cyberbullies who didn’t have any friends and didn’t know how to talk to people or channel their anger in helpful ways. Now we were a team that kept saving the Overworld … and we were friends. I hoped Dad could see that.
We’d put the Earth portal in the house where Dad and I were staying that night, so that’s where we arrived when we jumped through. I knew we wouldn’t keep the portal there for long, and I wondered if Dad would help me make a new little house to keep the portal safe in. Ossie was sleeping peacefully near the portal, and when she saw us return, she rolled over and started purring.
“Thanks for coming to Earth with us,” I said to Dad, because I felt a need to say something. Other than the purring, there was only silence between Dad and me. It was awkward. “I know you don’t like Earth much, but I bet Maison’s right about the people whose houses we fixed being really happy.”
Dad turned and looked at me in surprise. “I never said I didn’t like Earth,” he said. “It’s just not my home, the same way it’s not your home.”
“Oh,” I said. “I just thought …” I trailed off. I didn’t entirely know what I’d thought.
Dad shook his head. “Sit down, Stevie.”
Uh-oh. Was I in trouble?
Slowly, not taking my eyes away from Dad, I sat down. Dad was looking out at the dark landscape of the Overworld, where we could see zombies and skeletons in the distance. Scary as they were, I knew we were safe in our house. It also felt good to know at least these were normal Overworld mobs, not Nether ones.
“Our father-son day didn’t exactly go as planned,” Dad was saying. “I wanted us to have a father-son day because recently it feels as if I don’t even exist for you.”
I was surprised. Was I wrong this whole time when I thought Dad didn’t like Earth and my friends? Was Dad just jealous of me going to Earth and seeing Maison, Destiny, and Yancy?
“It’s hard seeing your son grow up,” Dad said, still not looking at me. “I’ve tried to teach you what you need to know in the Overworld, and sometimes I’ve come up short. You still make mistakes. You left that Nether portal, and you never questioned why you saw that Wither.”
I cringed. Yes, I was in trouble.
I expected to get lectured on everything I’d done wrong, but then Dad turned and looked at me full in the face. “However, I also see you’ve learned things I’ve never taught you,” he said. “Your quick thinking helped defeat the Wither, and so did your friends. I’m glad they came along to help us.”
Wait, so I wasn’t in trouble?
“You said you weren’t going to be responsible for them,” I said. “Then I saw you nursing Yancy. How come?”
Dad shook his head. “Whenever I’ve seen you make a mistake, I’ve corrected you,” he said. Boy, that was for sure! “But it’s harder for me to own up to my mistakes. It was a mistake for me to think your friends wouldn’t help. I think the real reason I’ve been pushing them away is because it almost seems as if you like them better than me.”
It’s
true! He was jealous!
Dad saw my stunned look and seemed to realize he’d shared something really personal. He cleared his throat and said more seriously, “But finding new friends is also part of growing up. I just want some time with you as well. You’ve been on so many adventures lately, and I feel as if I’ve let you down on each one of them. You kept having to save me, when I felt that as a father, I should be the one saving you. But today …” He smiled at me. “Today we got to have an adventure together, and when we were alone in the dungeon with that Wither, we were a team. We saved each other. It wasn’t the father-son day I was planning, but it was still a very special father-son day.”
“Really?” I said. “But the Wither broke your sword! And we have to rebuild our house!”
“The sword and the house don’t matter to me,” Dad said. “They’re both easily fixed. What matters to me is that you’re safe. It isn’t easy raising a son on your own, but it also isn’t easy growing up. You’re becoming a young man, Stevie, and I couldn’t be more proud of you.”
I knew my face was getting red. It felt as if Dad was saying things he’d been wanting to say for a long time and had been unable to. Any time Dad tried to say things that were mushy, he’d stop and get embarrassed before he said much. It sounded as if he were really unloading his soul here.
“I have something for you,” I said, reaching into my tool kit. I pulled out the gleaming orb of the Nether star. “I picked it up after I knew that Yancy was okay. I think you should put it to use as a beacon for our new house.”
“I have a better idea,” Dad said. “When you and Maison rebuild your tree house, you should put it there. That way everyone who goes by will know that a very special group of kids likes to play in that tree house—a group of kids who have saved the Overworld time and again. I just hope I can come along on a few of those future adventures with you.”
I laughed. “I don’t know,” I said. “I think I might need a little break from all these adventures.” I paused and thought for a minute. “Hey, Dad?” I said. “How about we make rebuilding the house into another father-son day? I kind of want to remake my bedroom so it’s bigger.”
“That’s not the only thing we should change when we rebuild the house,” Dad said. “Until now, we’ve kept the portal to Earth in that little house nearby to keep it protected from mobs. But why don’t we just make a new room in our house and keep it there? It can be the portal room.”
My eyes lit up. If the portal was in our own house, that really showed that Dad did take it seriously and did care about my friendships, and Earth! “Yes!” I said. “And maybe when we’re done, we can try to make a car like Yancy has. I don’t know if it will work, but …”
“Stevie,” Dad said, “I would love that.”
Within a few days Dad’s and my house was as all repaired. In fact, it was even better than it had been before.
Dad and I didn’t have much success making ourselves a car that worked, but it was still fun. All this time we were spending together was making me feel that even though Dad and I were really different in some ways, that was okay. We each had our strengths and weaknesses, and we complemented each other and helped each other out. We were family, no matter what.
I got to show Maison, Alex, Destiny, and Yancy around our new, big house, including my new, bigger bedroom. They especially oohed and aahed over the new portal room. It was small and simple, but it housed the portal, right under my own roof.
Then we rebuilt the tree house, my friends and I. Dad waited this out, as if he knew some things were best to do with friends, like how some things were best to do with dads. I took the Nether star, added some glass and obsidian that hadn’t been destroyed in Dad’s supply shed, and created a beacon.
When Dad came out to see the new tree house, he admired how we’d added on to the balconies and put even more furniture in it. When he saw the beacon perched on top of the tree house, he said, “That’s the star that will always remind you that you defeated the Wither.”
I looked at everyone around me, at Dad, Maison, Alex, Destiny, and Yancy. We’d been through so many things together. I could see that they were all smiling.
“No,” I said. “That’s the star that will always remind me of how special my family and friends are, because we all came together to make this happen.”
The beacon glittered into the sky like a promise we’d always be together.
Check out the rest of the Unofficial Overworld Adventure series to find out what happens to Stevie, Alex, and their friends!
Escape from the Overworld
DANICA DAVIDSON
Attack on the Overworld
DANICA DAVIDSON
The Rise of Herobrine
DANICA DAVIDSON
Down into the Nether
DANICA DAVIDSON
The Armies of Herobrine
DANICA DAVIDSON
Battle with the Wither
DANICA DAVIDSON
Available wherever books are sold!
DO YOU LIKE FICTION FOR MINECRAFTERS?
Read the Unofficial Minecrafters Academy series!
Zombie Invasion
WINTER MORGAN
Skeleton Battle
WINTER MORGAN
Battle in the Overworld
WINTER MORGAN
Available wherever books are sold!
DO YOU LIKE FICTION FOR MINECRAFTERS?
Read the Unofficial Minetrapped Adventure series!
Trapped in the Overworld
WINTER MORGAN
Mobs in the Mine
WINTER MORGAN
Terror on a Treasure Hunt
WINTER MORGAN
Ghastly Battle
WINTER MORGAN
Creeper Invasion
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Attack of the Ender Dragon
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DO YOU LIKE FICTION FOR MINECRAFTERS?
You’ll Love Books for Terrarians!
Attack of the Goblin Army
Winter Morgan
Snow Fight
Winter Morgan
Welcome to Terraria, a land of adventure and mystery. Build a shelter, craft weapons to battle bosses, explore the biomes, collect coins and gems …
Join Miles and his friends on amazing adventures in
The Tales of a Terrarian Warrior series!
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Battle with the Wither Page 6