A/N: Although I do not play Minecraft frequently, I love its characters and its story-like aspects. Endermen have always fascinated me, along with the lore of Herobrine.

The "place of sunless dawns" refers to Adrian's homeland, The End, a cold, hostile dimension.

From the Place of the Sunless Dawns

Elysium-

n. the abode of the blessed after death in classical mythology; paradise.

"You invade this pristine world, claiming it as your own simply by your presence...

You slaughter innocent animals for their hides and flesh...

You devastate the landscape and gouge out the landscape to hold your monuments of vanity...

... And yet you call me the monster."

-Anonymous

I.

The first time they met, her hands were freshly stained with blood, and his mind was freshly stained with curiosity.

When Adrian first arrived at the Overworld, she expected a world colder and lonelier than the Enderlands that she came from. After all, being exiled was supposed to cast her off into a dire world inferior to the "superior kingdom" the enderpeople had built for themselves.

However, she was greeted by a huge, blinding yellow orb that was, oh so beautiful, and an affable creeper who told her the name of this mesmerizing sphere was "the sun".

For an entire "day"– the creeper patiently explained to her that a "day" was a complete cycle of the sun and moon over 24,000 ticks– she stared, watching the grey fade into the blissful azure, the color of dreams. The only shade of blue remotely close to the sky color was lapis lazuli, which she had only ever seen once on a pendant of an elderly enderwoman.

Why anyone would choose to look at the dull gemstone rather than this brilliant hue that stretched like a comforting blanket around this dimension was beyond her.

Then, she stared at the sphere that journeyed from horizon to horizon, tilting her face up to feel an unfamiliar warmth, the balmy sensation unknown to the terrain, inhabitants, and soul of The End.

This dimension was so pristine, fluorescent, almost.

Although both the Overworld and Enderlands possessed ethereal qualities, the eerily crystalline light and warmth of the Aether starkly contrasted to her spectral homeland.

The End was an unforgiving, remorseless glade, almost as cruel as its inhabitants. Adrian came to the conclusion that all the inhabitants of the Overworld, nurtured by the nectar and ambrosia of this dimension, were raised to be innocent, morals cultured by the Aether itself.

Afterwards, the sky blushed a deep crimson, with its light evanescing into trails of elderberry, the color of her people's eyes.

Abruptly reminded of her situation, the enderwoman tried to make herself feel the expected pangs of grief after exile but couldn't muster any regret or longing for her homeland. Adrian nodded to herself. Yes, she thought. I'll build myself a home here, or maybe wander the vast expanses of Elysium-

Her thoughts were cut off when she saw a creature, nothing like the spiders, skeletons, or zombies she has ever seen, run– no, gallop– towards her, swinging its oak sword.

She had heard fables of this creature, this human. They were stories, concocted to explain that the reason of their existence was to be killed by this being.

Adrian snorted. She could justify hurting it if the fleshbag were to come any closer with that laughable scrap of wood it swung, or would look her in the eyes...

Then it did just that, a gross violation of etiquette it tilted its gaze up and smirked at her, making eye contact.

Adrian also felt dull pricks of pain, perhaps it was stabbing her with that splinter of a weapon it held, but she was too enraged at its gaze to coherently interpret the stinging; instinctively, she teleported away to safety.

Letting out a guttural scream, she blinked back to her previous area, right behind her victim and delivered a series of blows to the offending human. It screamed in pain, and Adrian felt the edges of her vision blur, vaguely feeling herself shriek with laughter at the fleshbag's demise as she let her fury control her movements. She had forgotten the last time she had felt so keenly alive, feeling as if her emotion were released like a flood of water from a tidal wave.

Finally, the creature fell over and disappeared with a pixelated puff, leaving behind a pile of unidentifiable items.

Panting for a few seconds, Adrian recovered from her skirmish and sifted through the piles of exotic trinkets, chuckling to herself as she chewed on a loaf of bread from the human's inventory.

A voice behind her suddenly said, "Enjoying ourselves, are we?"

Adrian, startled, turned around, prepared to teleport away with her loot.

She felt her fury surge as she spun around, her hands reigniting with her chokeberry magic. To her surprise, the creature was empty-handed and kept his gaze respectfully below her eyes. Although he came without a weapon in his grasp, Adrian sensed that it was because he was capable of inflicting damage without needing an instrument.

Anger ebbing away, Adrian narrowed her eyes at him and asked sharply, "What do you want?

The creature chuckled, a deep sound that she couldn't help but admire, and replied lightly, "Why, I just wanted to welcome the newest inhabitant of this dimension. There are no need for hostilities, now. I mean no harm, unless, of course, you intend on trying me. I can assure you that," his voice became low and threatening as he nodded to the pile of items for emphasis, "I am nowhere near as incapable as that blockhead you just exploited." (A/N: Pun intended.)

Acutely attuned to magic due to her turbulent upbringing, Adrian felt the air cackle with invisible energy. From this, she realized that this being was not a mere human, and wondered, if he isn't human, then what is he?

Still, despite her curiosity, she suppressed her urge to ask.

Annoyed at his seemingly pointless introduction, Adrian sarcastically deadpanned, "The welcoming party was great, I just wish there was more cake to go around for everyone who attended. And oh, by the way, I might have gotten some blood on your carpet. Sorry about that."

This elicited another soft chuckle, and although his voice held the tone of a villain, it also had one of loose informality, as if he were taking off a rigid mask adversity.

Then, he looked up at the position of the sun, frowning slightly when he estimated the approximate time of day. "Well," he began. "My eternal duty in this realm won't complete itself, so good-bye for now."

Before she had chance to ask him what his important duty was, he had teleported away, leaving behind traces of endermagic that was tainted with hints of a different type of energy, one Adrian could not detect.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review, I welcome all criticism.

"Adrian" is a an uncommon female name meaning "dark".

A "tick" in minecraft is a unit of time that occurs every 0.05 seconds.

I know that the Overworld is not normally known as the "Aether", as there is a mod that creates a new dimension called the "Aether", but the Overworld is heavenly compared to Adrian's experience in The End.