A/N:Hey, Ender here. I wrote this as a late holiday present for you guys, so I hope you enjoy it. It takes place just after Ender's Journey and includes mention of some of the events in its upcoming sequel.

Israphel's POV

Building day had come again, and like always, the Crafters were going crazy getting ready for one of their biggest holidays. I watched the town below rushing to complete its preparations for the big day, decorations everywhere and a constant stream of movement throughout the area. Unlike most holiday preparations I had observed from my secluded position, this one did not cause a feeling of loneliness and regret within me. Rather it made me think of other instances of this event I had witnessed, all from behind locked doors and shaded windows,

This entire event was something Crafters had come up with in order to commemorate the building of the Overworld, and Steve wasn't exactly its biggest fan. Every year it was always the same. Crafters from all over would come, hoping to meet one of the lords who had helped to build the realm. Steve had met with the people who came the first year the event occurred, but after that, so many people came, and so much fuss was made about the event that we didn't even bother to decorate the following years.

The event was never mentioned after that, but one year Cresilia explained to me behind closed doors that Steve did not like the holiday partly because he didn't want to have so much attention focused on him, but mostly because it reminded him that he was separated from his brothers.

One building day night, I had been practicing my invisibility spells, when I heard footsteps coming from the tower I had been forbidden to enter.

Cautiously, hoping my spell would hold, I crept up the many steps to the room at the top of the tower, where I saw Steve standing. Pressing myself against the wall at the top of the staircase, I saw him place a single torch onto one point of the plus of blocks which filled the center of the room. A glowstone block sat on a point adjacent to where the torch had been placed, and a redstone torch had been placed on a point directly across from where Steve had placed the regular torch.

The next day, I checked the tower and the torch had gone out. I continued this for several years, and every time my observation was the same. The torch Steve placed the night prior would be extinguished when I returned, even though I had never seen a torch go out before.

The year Shadow was locked in the End, a third item had joined the ones I had come to expect. A block of endstone sat across from the glowstone, a bit battered but still recognizable as a block from Shadow's castle. A room where the dark realm portal had been found.

Steve placed the torch, then unlike years before, fell to his knees before the arrangement of items. His hands were clasped over his face but tears still trickled through, falling to the ground in a crystal stream. Sharp sobs racked the lord before me, and yet I could do nothing but watch.

Still today, I wonder if I did the right thing then, standing silently when I could have brought comfort. He sat there, crying in the night and I watched. His sadness that day was not for himself as another lord might have felt. Rather, it was for the family he had lost. Even then, before he knew what had transpired with Chaos's power, he felt pain for the lords who were lost to him. He was the only one not cast from the first realm, but he might as well have been. His family was lost to him and he was the loneliest of all.

When Teloxen changed his memories, he no longer brought the torch to the tall tower. It would have remained empty for many years if I had not watched Steve all that time. For those years, I brought the light to the tower, placing a single torch with the other items each year.

I have never had an occasion to explore the castles of the End or Aether, but I have seen in Herobrine's fortress a tower where no one ever goes save once a year, where the Fortress's lord takes an item to be placed with three others upon a plus shaped construct. Even when divided, the brothers were connected by what they did, a link so strong it could not be broken even by Chaos. The events in the Aether where my fall was revealed proved this to me. One day, I know the end shall come for me, like it had for so many others. Some lord or Crafter will bring me down, and I will accept this, for it means I will have fulfilled my promise to Sallen and she will be safe.

I continued to look down at the town thoughts a blur, when a flash of movement caught my eye. Curiosity got the better of me and I went down to where the motion had originated. A sheet of paper lay there, wrapped in a bit of leather to protect it from the weather. On it was written I know why you did what you did, but it doesn't make this any easier. Every lord hunts for you and I worry of what should happen if they succeed in finding you. You are far too loyal to your promises. I know what you did all those years though on building day, and for that the realm lords should thank you, if only they knew why. It was this which kept them connected and still does today. Remember child of my heart, I shall always love you and should the day come when you must flee from both the lords and chaos, there is a place for you in my kingdom, -Cresilia

I tucked the the small paper into my coat before looking up at the sky. "At least there is one lord who believes in me" I sighed "It will have to be enough" I left the hill to return to th realm my lords occupy when I saw the torch blazing in the tower, as it had done for so many years before.

A/N:I hope that you have enjoyed this story. If so, consider leaving a review. I hope you have a great day and I shall see you in my other stories. Bye! :D