PREVIOUSLY ON THE MOONE TRILOGY:

"Okay, so moving on. If it's a prophecy, who was it written by?" I asked.

"Well." Jordan said. "There were two people. One of them was Herobrine. And the other was—"

Just then, the entire room went silent as the sky grew brighter outside the dome. Almost golden. Then, the doors flew open, and everyone jerked toward the noise.

A guy walked in from further down the hallway as if the doors opened by themselves. He was bald, but had a black beard. His light brown shirt was tattered, and he had gray pants and black shoes. But his eyes were black.

As he walked in slowly with his hands behind his back, he looked around. You could practically see the tension with the complete silence.

He looked at the stands, then each main council member. Then, he looked at our group. When we made eye contact, his eyes twinkled and he winked at me.

"—Notch." Jordan said. Not only did he finish his sentence, but he also stated who had entered.

Notch was here. He looked like a completely normal man, except a glow emitted from him and lit up the room. Everyone stared in awe as he looked around.

Notch inhaled deeply, then grinned. "I'm back."

~<>~

Okay, so I really could've acted better than I actually did. I didn't know if I should've knelt, or praised him, or just said, 'Hello.' But I felt sassy.

"Where have you been?" I put my hands on my hips.

"Kat...!" Jake whispered to me.

"Nah nah." I patted his shoulder. "This guy's been gone for 16 years. We all deserve an answer."

"Yeah, but he could smite you." Abby said.

"I AM SO SORRY ABOUT HER." Infinity wrapped her arms around me. "SHE IS USUALLY A GOOD CHIL–"

"This again?" I groaned and pushed her off of me.

Notch just watched us with an amused smile on his face. Then, he realized that everyone was now focused on him. "Right." He said in a gentle and nice voice. "I guess some people deserve an explanation."

"Wait." I closed my eyes. Then, I opened them and pointed at Notch. "You're that voice from my dreams. The one that told me that you let me find my destiny too soon, and to be prepared. You must've also sent me to Jake's base."

He grinned. "So, you figured me out. Yes, indeed, I was him."

"Woah woah woah." Adam said from his place. "What? You made contact with Notch?"

"More like he made contact with me." I glanced at Notch, and he nodded. Then, I explained to everyone my dreams of him talking to me in the golden clouds. Now that I thought about it, it was pretty weird. But I didn't tell about the nightmare town collapsing, or my most recent one.

"And you didn't tell us this... why?" Jake asked.

I shrugged. "I didn't think it would be the time. Plus, for once, I knew something you guys didn't."

Notch chuckled. He seemed very jolly.

"Wait are we supposed to bow or something?" Gordon asked.

"It's not necessary, but would be greatly appreciated." He answered.

Gordon got on his knees and started bowing. "WE'RE NOT WORTHY." He said, over and over.

"Gordon get up." Abby pulled him to his feet.

Notch looked around again. "My, my. I remember when you all were so young. I picked you all for individual reasons. And now you look like one strong council, ready to help."

"We are." Mitch nodded. "But, to go back to Kat's question, where have you been?"

"Not here." Notch said vaguely. Then, he added, "Not in this dimension, anyways."

"The End?" Preston asked.

"The Nether?" Ian said at the same time as Preston.

"Visiting the Nether would be too dangerous, and as for the End, no."

"Too dangerous for a god?" I asked.

"When another god has taken residence there, yes." Notch nodded.

Jake frowned. "What other dimension is there, then?"

Notch looked worried for a second. "It's a dimension only gods can go to and from with ease. With mortals, it would take over a century to practice, so it's practically impossible."

"Fantastic." Gordon grinned.

I thought back to what Notch said earlier, about another god being in the Nether. "Herobrine's in the Nether?" I asked, looking around. "That's why we can't go there?"

"Yes." Notch started slowly walking around. "He is building an army. It's numbers are stronger than ours, but it isn't stronger in spirit or strength."

"Yeah!" Skye yelled, pumping his fist. He shrank when he realized that no one else did it. "Sorry."

"We are aware of that." Preston nodded.

"But are you aware of his secret weapon, his plans, the mutant mobs?"

"Mutant mobs, yes." I said. "Met three already. But anyone else know about the plans?"

Everyone shook their heads or frowned.

"Perhaps we should talk about this with the officials." Notch said earnestly. "The rest of you are dismissed."

"But Notch." An orange cat said in a British accent. "You always have us here to discuss as well."

"You're right, Stampy. But this is a different time. Things are far more... unpredictable." I really didn't like the way he said that.

A few people started to speak, including Stampy, but Adam raised a hand to silence them. "Dismissed."

A few grumpy minutes later, everyone was out except the 10, us, Mastermind, and Notch.

Notch chucked. "Adam, you certainly have grown into a demanding leader. It's a shame I missed it."

"Why did you leave?" Vikk asked.

Notch sighed. Then, he lifted his feet off the floor, and hovered. He moved his knees up, and crossed them so it looked like he was sitting in an invisible chair. "Sorry, had to sit down."

"Understandable." Infinity nodded.

"Now, I'm going to make you guess why I left." He leaned back.

"You needed to feed your fish." Gordon said.

"No."

"You had to feed your dog."

"No."

"You needed to feed your cat."

"No."

"I don't think he has any animals!" Abby exclaimed.

"Well you don—"

"It's the prophecy, isn't it." Mastermind said, which silenced everyone. "It came true 16 years ago. Now it's starting to work out. Am I right?"

Notch nodded gravely.

"Then..." Mastermind started, and stared at me. Everyone else did as well.

I backed up. "What?"

People looked between me and Notch, as if we were about to throw down. (The image of that just made me burst out into laughter. Okay, just had to say that. Carry on.)

I sighed. "Whatever, people." I started walking to the doors. "I'll be all by myself since no one wants to talk with me. Goodbye."

I walked very slowly so someone could stop me, because I really didn't want to leave. Soon enough, someone did.

"Wait."

It was Notch's voice. I turned and saw him with his eyes closed. "Maybe we should continue this in the meeting room."

"This isn't the meeting room?" Jon frowned.

"No, he means the private meeting room." Adam said. "Which is only for the ten of us, and him."

"Oh come on." Jon frowned.

"You all suck." Infinity said, pointing with both her hands. "Except you Notch. You cool."

"Wait what?" I said.

"Mastermind." Mitch called.

Mastermind walked over. "Yep?"

"Take them on a tour wherever they please. Just keep them busy for a few hours."

"Wait what?" I repeated.

"Okay Mitch."

"That's Mr. Mitch to you." Mitch smirked.

"Right." Mastermind smirked right back.

"Wait." I said, more powerful. "What?"

"Katherine." Notch said, which shocked people. I hated my full name being said. "I understand that you have a lot of questions, and that I can answer many of them, but I just got back. We need some time."

I looked at the floor, frustrated. Nevertheless, I nodded my head.

Mastermind looked at us and adjusted his sash of bullets. "Let's roll, everyone."

~<>~

"I can't believe the rejection!" I exclaimed.

Everyone groaned.

"We know that." Jon rubbed his head.

"He was right there, I could've asked him anything, and then we were thrown out!" I used my hands to emphasize my point.

"We know." Infinity said. "We were there."

"The nerve!"

Skye coughed. "Well, he is a god so..."

"Still!"

"So here's our giant mini game stadium," Mastermind ignored our conversation. "Where we play, well, mini games. It was actually one of the first buildings in the inner city created, despite it being closer to the center of the city."

We were staring at a giant, and I mean giant, stadium. It was made of Quartz, and the top was a rainbow colored glass dome. Near the top was a small strip of rainbow wool blocks going around the building. In the front were four giant fountains, and an outdoor area to sit and chill. Sea lanterns were used to make the lights look futuristic.

"Looks like a casino." Jake noted.

Mastermind chuckled. "It kinda is, except for all ages. People are allowed to gamble on games, but it's usually clean and no fights."

Why weren't they focusing on the problem at hand?? We had a god at our disposal!

"We have to go there sometime." Gordon awed.

"I really want to see how the inside is laid out." Abby sighed.

"Builder?" Mastermind asked.

"Yeah."

He nodded. "I'm more of a sword-fighter and somewhat redstone engineer."

"Nice, redstone!" Gordon said.

Jake asked, "Did Mitch teach you?"

"Sword-fighting, yes. But not redstone. I kinda learned that on my own."

"Sweet." Gordon grinned.

"I has a question." Abby raised her hand. "Um, sorry if this offends you or is too personal, but what's up with your eye?" She was talking about the red one.

He smiled. "I was wondering when you'd ask about that. I'm part cyborg."

"I don't believe it." Skye crossed his arms.

"Me either." Jon shook his head.

"Really?" Mastermind said. Then, he grabbed his left wrist with his right hand, and literally peeled the skin off. Underneath was some kind of metal, with red circuits running through. His expression was completely poker face, as if it didn't hurt to rip off his skin.

"Okay okay stop!" Gordon shut his eyes and held his hands out to block it. "We get it! Creepy."

Mastermind chuckled, and folded his skin back. "I hold lots of secrets."

"What about you guys?" Infinity frowned, looking at Skye and Jon. "Are you two part chicken or something?"

They looked at each other, and shrugged at the same time, saying, "I don't know."

"Kat, this is probably the longest you've ever not talked." Jake said.

"I like it." Jon smiled, which was like a grin practically. Skye punched him in the shoulder.

I shrugged. "I can rant on about how I was too stupid to not say anything to him."

"It's not like he would answer your questions. He already said he couldn't." Abby recalled.

"But the facial expressions!" I pointed to my face, then everyone else's.

Gordon whispered, "I think she's going crazy."

"Thank you." I glared at him.

"No problemo, el pollo loco."

"Did you just call her a crazy chicken?" Mastermind raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, we're the only chickens here!" Skye grabbed Jon.

"Yeah." Jon frowned. "Wait what?"

Sighing, I looked up at the sky. Mid day. My stomach growled. "Can we get food?"

Everyone nodded

"We can go to the restaurant from before." Gordon rubbed his stomach. "They had good food."

Mastermind chuckled. "That's a nice restaurant. Okay, let's go."

~<>~

Soooo that's the first chapter! Things are gonna get better, don't worry.

Question: how pumped are you for this book?!

Rock on, my little rebels.