Minecraft - Legend of The End cp 11

[Chapter XI]

[Truce…?]

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The blazing sun was at last beginning to set, bringing with it the coolness of the night that the villagers were awaiting anxiously for. Word of Steve's illness caused an unsettling fear to plague the small desert town, many of the people volunteering their time to help aid with treating and fighting back his fever.

So with the coming of nightfall, a small relief slowly spread throughout everyone's minds as the thought of an easier chance at winning the battle would come with the darkness.

Melz sighed heavily as he gently placed the newly soaked towel over Steve's forehead, the young miner completely unresponsive as his consciousness had left him hours ago.

"Glorenda… he's only getting worse. The fever won't break. He's been resting for a few hours now and I can't seem to wake him up!" Melz looked over his shoulder at his wife as she quickly approached the bedside they had moved Steve to with a freshly soaked batch of towels.

"Here, girls… help me replace everything." Glorenda whispered while holding out the bucket.

Tamerin and Leannzah both nodded while taking up a couple of cold towels and quickly replaced the dried, warm ones.

"Is there anything else we can do to help? It's just not fair that Steve has become so ill!" Tamerin cried suddenly while looking between Glorenda and Melz with pleading eyes.

Leannzah remained silent; her hands lying in her lap as the fingers of her left hand began absentmindedly playing with the emerald bracelet wrapped around her right wrist, her green eyes staring at Steve's face almost blankly. Glancing down at his parted lips, a frown crawled onto her face as she watched him struggling to breathe.

"I'm afraid this is all we can do, Tamerin. Steve is strong. We can't lose hope just yet." Glorenda smiled weakly while gathering up the dry towels.

"At this rate, we're going to need the cure." Tamerin frowned while placing a hand to Steve's cheek, gasping at just how hot his skin was to the touch.

Melz sat back with a heavy sigh; "And that will take a miracle..."

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Melz and Glorenda thanked both Tamerin and Leannzah for their help before watching the two young women reluctantly heading off towards their homes just before the darkness enveloped the desert.

Kelsa and Hugo had asked if they could stay at the Inn, the two youths spending more and more of their time in the large building as the days progressed. Even before Steve became ill.

"Come children, let me make you something to eat." Glorenda smiled while leading them both behind the check in counter and into the small room that was lined with bookcases that held records of those who have stayed at the Inn over the years. She paused and turned slightly to face her husband. "Dear… would you like me to bring you something to eat?" she asked in a soft tone, a sad smile upon her face as she watched the man's shoulder's slouch.

"Hmm? Oh… n-no thank you, honey. I'm just… going to check on Steve real quick again." He gave a weak smile while walking towards the door that lead into the small room where Steve was resting.

It was on the first floor of the four story building. In fact, it was in the main room with the entrance. Once you entered the Inn, to the far right was the door, behind the large couch.

Entering into the small room with a sign posted above the door that read 'STAFF ONLY', directly in front of the door was the bed Steve was sleeping in.

Lining the walls on either side were cases crammed full with books and folders. Huddled between the bookcases and on opposite sides of each other were two wooden chests that mostly contained tools and various equipment.

It was nothing more than just a small storage closet really. So why they had a single bed in it, Melz couldn't quite remember, but he was grateful for it as Steve had lost consciousness while on the couch.

It would've been too much work and stress on the young man to carry him up to at least the second floor to put him to bed.

Plus the room, though adjacent the main lobby, was entirely buried beneath the sand and second floor. This allowed the temperature within the small room to be surprisingly chilled. Especially at night.

This key factor was what they were counting on as the sun had set. They felt if they had any hope at beating back the fever, nightfall would be the time to fight!

Melz sighed sadly while placing his palm against Steve's hot forehead, "You're still burning up. Though not as hot as before… it's still too much." he whispered softly while allowing his hand to slid away from the younger male.

"Great Notch… we need your help. Please, send a blessing to us this evening that will cure Steve of this illness. I fear that… at this rate? Steve will not survive the night..."

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It was nearly only about half way through the night. The sounds of the Mobs entering into the village and being driven back out by the protective golem not even reaching the ears of the four sitting on the couch in the lobby, green gazes each taking turns flickering up to glance at the closed door that separated them from Steve as violent coughs could be heard coming from behind the wood from time to time.

Hugo, growing more and anxious as the night wore on, suddenly stood up. "I'm… going to go and sit with Steve for a little bit. I… don't want him to be alone…" he said before quickly excusing himself and entering the room as quietly as he could, the other three watching him in silence.

Kelsa then turned her attention up at Glorenda with sad eyes, "Aunt Glorenda…?" she asked in a soft tone, recently beginning to refer the older woman as 'aunt' and Melz as 'uncle'.

"Yes, dearie?" Glorenda replied while looking down at the girl with a smile.

Kelsa nibbled on her bottom lip for a few seconds as she hesitated with her words. "Is Steve going to die?"

Melz gasped and faced the child while Glorenda did a better job at containing her shock. Lost for words for a few long seconds, the woman finally forced a fake chuckle and patted the girl on her head, "Honey, Steve is strong. He won't give up this easily. You'll see. Steve will pull through this."

A sudden, loud set of knocks against the large double doors silenced their talking.

"Who would be outside in the middle of the night with all the monsters?" Kelsa whispered up to Glorenda in a frightened tone.

"I-I don't know dear."

No one made any motion to move at first, until the knocking grew louder which in turn caused them all to jump.

Getting to his feet slowly, Melz then quickly moved towards the check-in counter. Opening the small gate, he slipped in and reached underneath the counter until his hand brushed against the hilt of an iron sword placed there for self-defense.

With weapon in hand, he gave the two a nod of his head indicating he wanted them to move behind the couch, sighing to himself as he watched them quickly doing as silently told. Turning towards the doors, he approached them; the knocking becoming progressively louder and more often.

Swallowing while tightening his grip on his sword, Melz slowly unlocked the door. The instant the latch was released however, the door was flung open, pushing Melz back with a startled shout as the two girls screamed from where they were sitting on the floor behind the couch by the door to the room Steve and Hugo were in.

Melz stumbled backwards a few steps before he was able to recover himself, while both Glorenda and Kelsa peeked over the top of the furniture to see what was happening. What everyone saw had them gasping, matching green eyes opened wide in pure shock.

Standing in the doorway was a man that looked nearly like an identical twin brother of Steve's. However, where Steve had bright vibrant violet eyes, this man's eyes were blank; pure empty whiteness staring at them, a smirk playing on his face. "Hi."

Even though he knew he had never met this mysterious man until now… Melz knew who he was the instant he looked into his eyes, fear taking a dark and cold grip on him as he stumbled backwards, nearly dropping his weapon. "I-it…. It can't be…?" he stuttered, becoming even more paralyzed as the intruder began laughing at his reaction.

"It's true! So—? Go on. Say my name. You know you want to…" he dared, eyes narrowing into a pushing glare.

Swallowing thickly, Melz took a deep breath in a failed attempt to calm himself. "H-He-Herobrine. B-but how? How did you escape the Nether?" Melz questioned, trying to keep his sword up high. "A-and what are you doing here? What could we possibly have that you would want?" he managed to weakly glare, somehow finding renewed bravery to stand before the legendary demon.

Steve was unconscious and dying from his illness in the other room. Unable to fight and defend them…

"It should be rather obvious why I'm here." Herobrine chuckled, tilting his head slightly just enough for his white eyes to glance at a shut door just past the couch to his right. 'There you are, Steve… I've found you.'

Focusing on the door for no more than a few seconds, Melz's gaze followed the demon's, eyes soon growing wide upon realization dawning on him. Glaring with a growl, Melz's body acted before his brain could process the move. Next thing he knew he found himself standing between the door that led to the room Steve was in; and Herobrine; "You will NOT go near that man, demon!" he warned, tone surprisingly strong.

Smirking while calmly approaching Melz, Herobrine was unfazed by the iron sword the man was holding up in his face.

"S-stay back." Melz tried to yell out, his confidence and bravery quickly leaving him the closer the man came, body beginning to tremble noticeably which earned a dark chuckle from the demon.

However afraid he was… he stood his ground.

Herobrine saw this, pausing to stand just before the Inn owner, "I'll give you credit. You've got guts. Normally, humans cower before my feet and beg me to spare them. He must be rather important to you. Anyways, despite how… threatening… you're being right now, I'm actually not here to fight." He grinned even further while causally lifting his right hand up and, using just his thumb and forefinger to hold the tip of the newly crafted blade, with a quick flick of his wrist broke the weapon in half, earning frightened cries from Glorenda and Kelsa as they continued to cower in the corner by the couch and wall.

Their screams caught the demon's attention suddenly, white eyes glancing over towards them for just a fleeting second. As if not having much interest on what was going on, he then simply dropped the now useless blade, a smug smirk on his face while pushing past Melz and towards where he knew for a fact they were keeping Steve.

He stopped right next to the girls however, turning his head to look down at them. With a sick grin, he walked up to them instead, ignoring Melz's begging to leave them be while the man tried desperately to find anything to use as a weapon.

Glorenda held Kelsa tightly as the Nether ruler drew nearer, turning her away and using her own body to shield the child from Herobrine.

Draping his arms over his thighs just after squatting down to be more at level with the little girl, his eyes narrowed slightly while his grin-though still evil- surprisingly softened; "You are Kelsa, the one that helped Steve his second night in this village…"

Kelsa said nothing in response to his statement. However, she also did not take her eyes off his.

He let out another chuckle while reaching his right hand out and patted the girl on the top of her head, causing her to finally turn her head away, whimpering and trembling even harder. "You were very brave. Going up against those Mobs like that with only a barely lit torch. Steve cares about you, you know. The four of you… The parents and siblings he never had…"

Kelsa instantly stopped shaking as she gasped, slowly turning her head from Glorenda's chest to peak up at Herobrine at his words.

With one last pat to her head, he took his hand back and straightened up while looking over at the door once more. About to approach it, instead he changed his plan of action. Reaching into his back pocket, he slowly pulled out the same glass vial he had back at the portal. Holding it up and over his shoulder for Melz to be able to see it, he spoke before looking over the same shoulder to grin at the man; "You need this. Don't you?"

Melz silently gasped upon seeing the vial, realizing it was the cure that contained a Ghast tear that was needed in order to save Steve's life. His eyes then narrowed in suspicion. "How can we be sure it isn't poison?"

Herobrine laughed at that while fully turning to face Melz now, lowering his arm down to his side. "Oh please! If I wanted Steve dead, do you really think I would give him a merciful death such as poison? And do you think he would even still be alive today? I think I would be a little more creative with how I would kill the legendary 'Great Hero'. Don't you agree?"

Melz tched at the response while glaring hard at the man. His greens eyes soon trailed over towards the vial still held in Herobrine's hand. After a moment of silence, Melz swallowed. "So… what's the catch then?"

"Here's the catch! There is no catch. Contrary to many of the myths out there circling around me, I don't always want to kill and destroy. Steve is… essential to me in a sense. His death is honestly one thing I do not wish for."

"But why help him?" Melz challenged, feeling more and more courage filling him.

Herobrine remained silent for a moment, thinking about that question and deciding whether or not he should answer it. Finally, the demon simply huffed with a shake of his head. "My telling you that the man is important to me isn't good enough?"

"Important how, exactly?"

That earned a growl, "Do you really think you're in a position to be questioning me?"

"Yes, I do."

Herobrine glared, an even deeper growl leaving him that shook the windows throughout the building. "Again… you've got guts. Better watch it though… before I strewn them all over this room." he warned in a low tone, causing Melz to completely back down, the man knowing full well he reached his limits with the Nether ruler's patience.

To further prove his disappearance of patience, Herobrine held out the vial to Melz, growling between tightly clenched teeth; "Take it."

With hesitance, Melz swallowed thickly before reaching out with a trembling hand, gently taking the glass vial from the demon and quickly stepping away from him. Looking down at the smooth container, he watched the liquid within swirling around as if it were alive.

Taking a deep breath in through his nose as if to calm himself down, Herobrine cleared his throat while turning half way to face to girls again before bowing his head slightly to them; "Ladies." He then grinned while facing Melz once more, walking past the Inn keeper with a curt nod of his head.

Opening one of the double doors that led outside, Herobrine paused for a moment while looking over his shoulder, a wide tooth baring grin spread across his face; "I'll be seeing you guys around. Stay safe…"

And with that—he was gone.

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Groaning in the back of his sore throat, Steve's eyes squeezed tightly shut for a few seconds before finding the strength to slowly flutter open, earning relief filled sighs around him. The first face to swim into view was Melz. "M-Melz…? I don't get it. H-how am I feeling better? W-were you able to create a new cure?"

A slow shake of his head had Steve raising a brow in confusion. He thought about many different stories to tell the young man about how he was able to save him. For some reason however, Melz wasn't able to bring himself to actually lie to Steve about how he was saved. So instead he took a deep breath and began explaining to the miner; "No, Steve. We… we were able to give you the cure with the Ghast tear…"

Steve's eyes grew wide, "What? B-but how?" He tried sitting up in bed, but Glorenda's hand to his shoulder prevented him from doing so.

"You have every right to believe me or not, Steve. But last night… a knock came to our door. When I unlocked it, it was forced open the rest of the way by a powerful force. Standing in the doorway, was a man that looked like he was your twin. But his eyes were white and empty. He… he gave us the cure that saved your life."

Steve looked away while remaining silent, total shock filling him at the truth. "Herobrine…" he finally whispered more to himself than the Inn keeper.

Melz whimpered with a shudder while leaning away from Steve to give the younger man some extra space, rubbing his hands together nervously; "Oh, this is bad. Not only has he somehow managed to return… but he knows truly for a fact that you're here, Steve. You're not safe anymore! We need to try to find a place to hide you. If such a place actually exists that is."

With his head still swimming as his fever continued to simmer down, Steve placed a hand to his forehead, the coolness his palm brought his flesh had a soft sigh leaving his parted lips.

Soon, he gave a slight chuckle and weak smile to the older man, "Melz, I'm sure you're over reacting. Clearly I'm not in any immediate danger. At least not anymore not that I'm getting better. And if that man really was Herobrine, and if he really wants me dead, then I think it's safe to say that I would be right now."

Melz, though by force, calmed himself down with a weak chuckle. "Y-you're probably right."

It was this moment Glorenda interrupted with a kind smile; "Steve, dear… I'm sure you're hungry by now. Want me to make you some soup?"

Placing his hand over his stomach as it growled its response, he chuckled with a nod. "Yes, please."

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Everyone insisted that Steve stay at the Inn for at least one more night, to ensure he was healthy enough to be on his own (and to ensure his safety from Herobrine in Melz's case), but all Steve wanted was to just go back to his home and relax in peace.

So Melz arranged a group of set times to go over and check up on Steve throughout the first night. The miner, though mildly annoyed, happily agreed to the plan as long as it meant he would be in his own bed.

Steve took in a deep breath and exhaled it in a long slow sigh as he shut his front door just before locking it. His home was as quiet as always. He was accustomed to the silence around him by now… but he wouldn't be lying when he thinks about how nice it is to be around others in a happy environment.

Such as the Inn…

Shrugging it off with a chuckle to himself, Steve took just four steps into his home before stopping dead in his tracks.

He suddenly felt the presence of another…

Standing right behind him—

Steve hesitated greatly before slowly turning around, a strong sensation close to fear seizing him as the presence seemed familiar—and he had no weapon to defend himself with—nearly stumbling backwards with a shout of surprise the instant he came face to face with an almost identical mirror image of himself. "W-who're—?"

"Aww… what's the matter? Did you forget about me already, Steve?" the man interrupted him with a playful chuckle, his white eyes staring into Steve's wide violet and hitting instant recognition.

Steve's eyes grew even wider as he took a few steps back, his heart skipping quite a few noticeable beats. 'Those eyes—!' "Herobrine…" he whispered, before suddenly and rather surprisingly standing his ground, eyes no longer wide in shock but rather narrowed into an impressive glare. "So tell me. Is this for real? Or is it just another one of your damned dreams? Because honestly? I'm really getting sick of those."

"What? You saying you'd rather have the real thing before you? Touching you and speaking to you?" he whispered with a bounce of his eye brows.

Steve wrinkled his nose while taking yet another step back. "You wish." He paused for a second before mentally thinking to himself; 'Man, this guy is full of himself…' "I'm just tired of the screwed up mind games from you is all." He continued to glare. Why wasn't he feeling as terrified standing in front of him now-in person-like he was in his dreams?

An almost playful chuckle came from Herobrine as the man simply shrugged his shoulders, further throwing Steve off in the completely opposite direction. All this time, he thought Herobrine to be this bloodthirsty Nether monster… but so far within this short encounter, he has yet to really feel any sort of threatening malice from the man… The most harm he has done to him was speak the painful truth to him while twisting his emotions around in those dreams.

Another chuckle came before Herobrine spoke again. "Anyways, I'm the real deal—"

"Then why do you look like me?" he interrupted him with an unconvinced expression.

"Ah, well… you see, living in the Nether for as long as I have… let's just say my skin didn't fair too well with the heat that hell smothers you in. Once I left there, I knew I would need a 'make over'. So, I thought about what I wanted to look like. And because I've had you on my mind for a very long time, Steve— Well…? Here I am!" he explained with a grin.

Steve took a step back, feeling a little unnerved by the look he was being given and the words that would said. "Gee, I'm flattered…" However weirded out he was… he couldn't help but just stare at the man, still unable to believe this to be the same person so many have spoken of with such paralyzing fear.

He couldn't see him being a monster…

So far, he was nothing more than just a cocky sarcastic bastard that's been stalking his dreams.

Making the decision that he would play along for now (but keep his guard up), Steve gave the sense that he was relaxing a little in the other's presence; "So… what are your plans now? I mean… you know, now that you're free and all."

Herobrine invited himself more into Steve's home, pulling a chair out from under the table and taking a seat. "Oh… I had a lot of great and wonderful things planned out! But now that I'm actually free—I think I'll skip those plans for now. A unanimous decision has been made of me accompanying you on your 'life journey' or whatever the hell you want to call it!" he answered with a laugh.

Steve let out a rather loud laugh of disbelief before crossing his arms over his chest, staring at the other, "You're joking, right?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" he grinned.

A snort escaped the miner next, "And just where exactly are the others that helped decide on this?"

Herobrine grinned while shutting his eyes, "You're looking at them."

Steve shook his head, "So you mean just you? Do you even know what a unanimous decision means?"

"Of course I do. I'm simply saying I alone am enough to make the decision. No others are necessary."

'This asshole really IS full of himself…' Steve sighed while taking a seat in the other chair opposite Herobrine, the demon watching him with a smug smile still plastered on his face as Steve began rubbing at his temples as he felt a headache coming on. "What makes you think I even want you with me?"

"Simple really, Steve… you'll die without my help."

That earned a glare and pink blush from anger as Steve growled, "And just what the hell makes you think I couldn't survive? I think I'm quite capable of taking care of myself while hunting a few Endermen, jackass! I've done it before! I've already gotten five pearls."

"Oh yes, just like how well you fared with just that first one? If it hadn't started raining, I'm pretty sure it would've killed you and that girl!" He then burst into a fit of laughter; "Talk about a way to go! That would've been an embarrassing way for the third Great Hero to have died!"

Steve sneered at that comment, before a dark grin of his own crawled across his face as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair; "At least I would've died as the Great Hero. The first at least found the portal and seen the dragon. Unlike you! Being cast away into hell before you could even see The End. Shit, the portal even for that matter!"

It was Herobrine who sneered now, his cocky grin faltering slightly as a low growl escaped his partially parted lips. However offended his pride was, he was quick to recover his smirk as he narrowed his eyes; "That's quite a slick tongue you've got. And an impressive pair you've got too… not only standing up to me, but also quick with some good insults to back it up. Maybe that's what I'm starting to like about you? So far you're not like any other human on this island." He mused, enjoying the surprised look he received for his own reaction of being insulted.

Clearing his throat and folding his hands behind his head, Herobrine continued; "Anyways, all insults aside— Do you even know just how many you'll need to kill?" he asked with a knowing grin; eyes narrowed with one brow raised.

Steve backed down a little, breaking eye contact and looking off to the side. "Well…"

An exasperated sigh interrupted him, causing him to look back to the other with a renewed glare, watching as the demon leaned back on his chair enough to where the two front legs were completely off the floor, all his weight being supported on the two back legs, "So… you really don't know much about the legend of The End. You're more screwed than I thought."

"Oh just shut up." Steve snorted while pushing himself to his feet so suddenly his chair not only squeaked loudly against the wood of his floor, but nearly fell over if he hadn't reached behind himself to grab at the back of it; never once taking his eyes off the other. This guy was unbelievable and was giving him a headache. "Look, we're done here for tonight. I'm tired and would like some sleep. Do whatever the hell you want. I'm going to bed." He started to leave, placing his hand onto the doorknob that lead into his bedroom and about ready to twist it until Herobrine's voice halted him.

"Now is this really any way to treat the person who just saved your life, Steve?"

Steve flinched slightly, his fist tightening around the doorknob as he searched his brain for words. "So then it's true. You really did give Melz the cure."

Waiting for a few moments to see if Steve was going to say anything more, Herobrine chuckled quietly while changing the subject knowing he had the human's full attention; "You only have the five Ender Pearls, correct?" he asked before pausing for a brief moment.

With Steve remaining still and keeping his back towards him, Herobrine scoffed to himself before continuing on; "You were told that they'll help you find the portal that will lead you to The End. Well… you were told only half right. As the pearls are now, they're completely useless to you with finding the gateway. If you used one of them the way they are now it'll only be a fancy way of teleporting yourself while becoming hurt by it. You'll need to turn at least one of them into an item that's called the Eye of Ender." He paused to allow the newly revealed information to process.

Steve remained still, his hand still squeezing the knob tightly.

After a few seconds, an annoying squeaking broke the tense silence as Herobrine began rocking back and forth on the back legs of the chair, his right leg crossed over his left while his left foot was using one of the table's legs to push off of, his hands still laced together behind his head as he continued, not halting his motions as he appeared to be using some unseen force to keep himself perfectly balanced. "Once you have done that, only then will it show you the way to the portal." he paused once more but only for a second before continuing with a tooth baring grin, "But that's not all. Legend says that the first Great Hero who sealed the Ender Dragon within its own dimension, sought out to make sure to close off the gateway on our end… and to prevent it from reopening and releasing the beast.

"Now, if I understand everything I've managed to gather over the years correctly, you will need a total of twelve Eye of Enders just to power the portal. But I'm not saying twelve is all you'll need; you may or may not end up losing some of the ones you have to use just trying to find the damn temple that shrines the portal. So… you may want to track down and kill quite a few more Endermen than just five."

Steve stood with eyes wide in shock. 'T-twelve? Just to power the portal? I was barely able to stand up against each of the five!'

Allowing Steve a few more moments to take in all the new and highly crucial information, Herobrine chuckled before adding even more for the poor man to take in, "But that's only the half of it. You see, in order to even make an Eye of Ender… you'll need two ingredients. Sounds simple enough, right?! Well one of course being an Ender Pearl… which that was pretty obvious, I'd have to say. The second is a powder called Blaze Powder. Which you create from an item called a Blaze Rod. Which can only be collected from one creature called a Blaze… which only exists in one place…" he trailed off slowly, seeing if the human was as smart as he was surprisingly giving him the credit for.

Steve said nothing at first, thinking it over in his mind for a few seconds. With no motion whatsoever, Steve finally responded, his answer causing an almost deranged tooth baring grin to spread across Herobrine's face that went unseen by the human. "The Nether…"

'You ARE smart, Steve…'

"Bingo."

Steve remained where he was, startling slightly as he twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open upon the sudden close proximity of the other as Herobrine appeared directly behind him from out of nowhere. Whispering against his ear, his breath was hot against his neck; "So you see? Not only can I help you slay the Endermen… but I can also help you retrieve all the Blaze powder you need to make them into the Eye of Ender. If it'll help you sleep at night, let's call it a… truce."

'H-how did he—? He didn't even make a sound!' Shuddering against his will at the heat radiating off the other's body, Steve whipped around with a glare and took a step into his room. "Truce…? Just how stupid do you think I am?"

"That's the funny thing. I really don't think you're stupid. And you've proven me correct so far. Like I said, you're not like the other humans on this island." he grinned while leaning away slightly.

Steve studied the other's copied face, still weirded out by the sight. With one brow raised in growing suspicion, Steve crossed his arms over his chest ; "Why are you so interested in helping me find the way into The End? What are you hoping to gain out of it?" he inquired.

Suddenly the Elder's words floated into his mind, causing alarm to slowly creep into the miner's body as goosebumps crawled across his skin.

Herobrine frowned at this, lowering his head with an uncharacteristic sigh; "The truth is… I've spent a long time in the Nether. And during that time…after my anger and rage faded, my mind began to clear up. I was able to think straight again for the first time in… well shit, a long time! I was then able to see just the kind of fool I made myself. I began to grow bitter towards myself as I thought about how badly I not only let my friends down… but the entire Overworld. I had lost myself… before I was able to find the gateway and slay the dragon!" His expression changed throughout his story, switching from anger to bitterness, from sorrow to remorse.

Steve slowly allowed his arms to uncross as the tension tightening up his body began easing up.

Herobrine lifted his gaze up to Steve, the human faintly gasping at the utter look of contrition the demon was expressing. "I want to help you fulfill where I failed. Just as I had promised to succeed where the one before me failed." He then took a deep breath, "My gain out of your success is to right the wrongs I committed, Steve."

The miner stared at him for the longest time, unable to find any words to say. Finally deciding he was too far at a loss, he cleared his throat to break the silence, looking down to the floor and answering while shutting the door practically in the other man's face; "I'll… I'll think about. I'm going to bed now. Do whatever you want… Good-night."

Herobrine remained where he was left. Grinning widely and with a dark chuckle that echoed into Steve's room, he responded; "Sweet dreams…"

Steve didn't like where this was going…

To Be Continued…