My world has had its name bended and twisted so much, very few people know the true name. It is popularly called Minecraft, or Minecraftia. But before that it was Craftoria, which is also its real name.

Craftoria had a stable and succesful government. We were ruled over by Steve, who was our king, and he is practically the reason we exist. He was a wise and noble king, even without a queen. He made sure every citizen had a warm house and food for a long while.

Then one day, he left for a long period of time.

We Craftorians were sort of abandoned, left to fend for ourselves. We had to make our own shelters and get our own food and armor. But it wasn't like we were dying off. Sure, less Craftorians lived daily, but we still were able to keep ourselves motivated.

Then, we got reports of Steve's dead body, with Herobrine standing over it.

Everyone knew that Steve was Herobrine's brother, and that Steve was the eldest, kindest, smartest, handsomest. It was no suprise when he became the king. But Herobrine couldn't accept that.

Nobody knows the full story, but it is rumored that Herobrine kidnapped Steve and held him hostage, ordering him to give up his kingdom. But when he didn't, Herobrine lost his temper and stabbed him with a diamond sword.

With Steve gone, most Craftorians went into a state of panic. It got even worse when Herobrine took over the throne. He was the second eldest brother (the only other brother, I might add,) of the family, so the throne was rightfully his.

At first, we never saw much of Herobrine around the kingdom at all. My family, which consisted of me and my little brother Caleb (because our parents died defending us from mobs a year before,) had a house up in a jungle tree, where we were hoping we would be safer.

But then rumors of experiments began floating throughout the kingdom. Rumors about experiments involving mob mutations. Combining mobs with other mobs, like a Zombie combined with a Skeleton, becoming a Zeleton. I shrugged the rumors away, not wanting to scare Caleb. Or myself, for that matter.

That is, until an Enderblaze attacked our house.

Caleb and I had just gotten back from a mining trip, and we were unloading some things of iron and diamonds into our chests, when our house started to catch on fire. We both ran outside, and just as we did, a flaming ender pearl hit Caleb in the head, causing him to topple off of the tree and down to the ground. I heard a sickening crunch, then silence.

In my rage, I whipped out my enchanted diamond sword and plunged it into the nasty creature's heart, and it died, falling in the grass near Caleb.

I didn't bother going down to see if he was okay. I knew Caleb, and he was so fragile that the ender pearl probably killed him before the fall. I did not cry.

I never cry.

But on the subject of an Enderblaze... it is probably one of the more dangerous mob mutations. But there are so many that it's rather hard to tell.

Not much happened for a while after that. I destroyed my tree house and moved far out into the more desolate area of Craftoria, which was a place called Minermia. Herobrine technically had power over the entire Craftorian world, but he rarely bothered doing anything to Minermia. It was only inhabited by the idiot villagers, a horse or two, and maybe a person like me would move in and out.

I set up a little house in a ravine, high up enough that there weren't any mobs but low enough that it stayed hidden.

I found hundreds of diamonds and things of gold to protect myself. Sometimes I allowed a passerby to stay with me for a few days, but they always left. Companions weren't really my thing anyways. I enjoyed being alone.

I trained out in the fresh air every day with my sword and bow. I had developed excellent aiming and precision, and learned a few moves I hadn't known before.

I had used those moves to protect myself in the way I should have protected Caleb.

_A Year Passed_

A year had passed since the day of Caleb's death, and that day I trained more furiously then I ever had. I actually got so into it that I smashed a tree to bits with arrows.

That's when the devil himself approached me, riding an enderblaze with a skeleton on either side of him.

Herobrine.

"Bravo, Miss. Bravo indeed." he said in a deep voice that made my ears scream for mercy. I knew better than to threaten the "king," so I put my weapons down.

"What do you want?" I asked as politely as I could muster. Herobrine put on a smirk. "Why, you, of course!" he chuckled.

I laughed sarcastically, throwing my head back. "Why would you need a seventeen year old girl?" I asked. Herobrine took a step closer, so I took a step back. Even I was slightly afraid of Herobrine.

"I have been watching your training ever since a blime (blaze and slime) told me of your power." Herobrine explained. "It is quite hard to rule a kingdom by yourself, you know."

"Steve managed to do it." I murmured. I put a hand over my mouth as I realized that I had just murmured that out loud. I refused to bow and destroy my pride more than I already had, but I mustered an apology.

"I'm s- sorry Herobrine." I breathed. Herobrine just laughed, which made me even more confused.

"No worries." Herobrine took my hand with his. "After all, a man must treat his wife with respect."

Realization hit me, and I yanked my hand away in disgust and fear. "Never!" I screamed. Then I made a run for it.

I ran over to a jungle tree and began climbing a vine, when the bony hand of a skeleton came and yanked me back down. I struggled as he dragged me back over to Herobrine, and the other skeleton came over to me and grabbed my other arm, holding it behind my back.

"You can't run from Herobrine, dear." Herobrine chuckled as he approached me. I struggled against the skeletons, but they were suprisingly strong, for being made of bones at least.

I grimaced as Herobrine smirked. "Your new home will be the castle and you shall rule by me," he decided as the skeletons dragged me kicking and hollering towards Herobrine's castle, miles and miles away. "And you shall never leave my side."

_A Month Passes_

A month had passed since that day.

I walked through the hallways of Herobrine's once majestic palace, now dull and scary. It had grown on me though.

I looked up through the large skylights of the palace. The moon was high in the sky. Midnight.

I was supposed to be asleep right then, and Herobrine would have flipped if he had caught me awake that late. But I just needed a walk every so often.

I approached a window, tall and clear. I looked out at the kingdom of Craftoria. It looked so beautiful at night. Almost peaceful. But peace no longer existed with the new mobs.

The mobs weren't really just, you know, "there" anymore. They worked for Herobrine as his bodyguards, tax collectors, and other various jobs that Herobrine was too lazy to do himself. They killed whoever tried to rise up against Herobrine, or disagreed with the things he said.

Basically, it was the equivalent of Hitler and his Nazi's in your world.

The mobs also kept watch over me. I was not allowed to leave the palace, or interact with any of the kingdom's subjects. I was also not allowed to do anything that could result in my injury without the supervision of at least three mobs to assist me.

So the fact that I could take this walk made me feel normal for a moment. That was still hard though, thanks to the clothes.

I didn't like all of the fancy clothes Herobrine gave me. I was to wear silky dresses with satin bows, and nightdresses that were made out of expensive material that didn't even keep me warm during the freezing cold nights.

I opened the window, grimacing as the rusty hinges squeaked. I didn't think anyone was nearby, so I opened it the whole way.

I stuck my head outside, and took a breath of the somewhat fresh air.

Okay, maybe more like barely fresh.

But it was surely better than the musty air of the palace. I closed my eyes and let the cold wind of winter blow my hair back, and grinned. Wind. I hadn't felt it in so long.

"What are you doing?" a voice behind me asked. I sighed, my shoulders slacking. I turned. Sure enough, Herobrine stood glaring at me.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to take a walk." I muttered as I shut the window reluctantly. Herobrine scoffed. "So you just had to open the window?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes. I furrowed my brow. "I just wanted a breath of fresh air, Herobrine!" I shouted.

Herobrine seemed to be taking this into consideration.

"Come with me." he finally commanded. I hesitated, but eventually gave in as he led me down a series of hallways until we ended up by a large set of doors.

"What's this?" I asked. Herobrine said nothing. He just took my hand and led me through them, and into a lush flower garden, kept closed in by a wooden fence. I gasped, and ran over to sniff a set of tiny flowers.

"Why didn't you tell me this was here?" I asked as Herobrine took my hand and led me over to a wooden bench. Herobrine said nothing for a long moment. We sat, and he sighed.

"I thought you would try to run away unless I accompanied you." Herobrine finally confessed. I said nothing, and stared at my feet. He was completely right. A fence can't really stop me, especially not a wooden one. I did not tell him this, fearing he would never let me come back here.

"Do you know why I wanted you to be my wife?" Herobrine broke my train of thought. I stared at him, a million possible answers racing around a neverending race track in my head. I waited for him to answer.

"I chose you because of your strength." he finally finished. "Not just physical, but mental as well."

"What do you mean?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"I mean, you had the ability to deny my proposal, and actually attempted to fight back. That takes real courage, you know. Anyone else would have just given in to the 'all powerful Herobrine.'" Herobrine further explained.

I cocked my head to the side when Herobrine mocked his last few words. "Isn't that what you want to happen?" I asked him, and flinched as he glared at me.

"I want people to know me for who I am! Not the ruler of, well, basically a dulled-down hell!"

"Well, who are you, Herobrine?" I asked him. Herobrine paused, as if unsure how to word the question.

"I'm a bit protective." Herobrine began. "When I was a kid, everything I owned, everything I had, it all got taken from me at one point. I would never see that stuff again, and it made me not want to let anything go."

"Including your kingdom?" I asked.

"In comparison, yes." he sighed. "I also tend to have a bad temper." he continued, and I choked down a laugh. Luckily, Herobrine didn't notice. "I always have. Most of the time, when I go on a kill streak or I am just flat out yelling at somebody, I'm just super mad about something stupid."

I felt my heart start to melt.

"I'm sure you've figured out the rest." Herobrine sighed. I nodded, but I honestly had no idea.

Suddenly, I allowed my head to rest on Herobrine's shoulder. I don't know what moved me, pure guilt or sympathy, but it seemed to suprise him. In a good way.

I didn't grimace as he took my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine.

Then, we just sat. No speaking, or sobbing. Just a peaceful silence between us.

I think I eventually dozed off, because I awoke the next morning in a large canopy bed. I could feel Herobrine beside me, softly snoring. I sat up carefully, as not to wake him.

I stared at him for a while. He was tall and skinny, with terribly pale skin. His eyes, though now closed, white and pupiless. He had long, straight brown hair that just reached the back of his neck, and slightly covered his eyes.

He never wore true royal clothes. He seemed to be rather fond of his blue jeans and turquoise t-shirt. It made me wonder about the guy.

Herobrine. Some consider him a heartless beast, with a taste for human blood. I do too, I think I always will. But now I viewed him a bit differently. I knew that he had a heart.

He just needed to learn how to use it.

Suddenly, Herobrine's eyes fluttered open. He saw me awake, and sat up to meet me. "I'm starved, Uno." he grumbled.

My heart sank.

I guess we were back to normal.

"Make me some breakfast, will you?" he asked retorically, waiting for me to nod. I did nod as we both got off of the bed.

"I'll meet you down there." he nodded as he shuffled to the bathroom. I groaned, and stormed down to the kitchen.

I motioned for a Squaze (squid and blaze) to come and make breakfast. It did, a fantastic looking one at that. Who knew mobs could cook?

I took the two plates prepared and set them on the table, and then headed over to the coffee maker to make myself black coffee, my favorite.

I gasped, almost knocking over the coffee making machine, as a deep voice came out of thin air. Herobrine's teleporting got really damn annoying, as you would figure. For some odd reason, his presence began to truly piss me off.

"I assume we have made peace for a while?" Herobrine asked as though he was talking to a young child. "After all, last night-"

"There is no such thing as peace when you're around, Herobrine." I hissed angrily, interrupting Herobrine, as I finished my coffee. Herobrine stepped back to let me pass as I stormed over to the long dining table, taking a seat in a large padded chair.

Herobrine sat directly across from me, completely silent for once. The silence was so still, and it filled the air with enough tension to break somebody's neck.

"Aren't you gonna say something?!" I finally hollered, causing Herobrine to flinch. I rolled my eyes. "Some snide remark about my cooking, myabe? Or how I am a complete fool in every way imaginable? Especially the cooking, actually!"

"But the food is good-" I cut Herobrine off.

"That isn't my point!" I hollered, banging my fist on the table. "You always find the bad in everything I do- same goes to everyone in existence!"

Now it was Herobrine who slammed his fist on the table. "I just tell the truth!" he growled in a low voice. But he didn't scare me. I wouldn't let him scare me.

"Would you ever lie to me?" I ask, lowering my voice as the squazes started looking at me with concern. Herobrine looked at me like I was a fool.

"I cannot lie to you, it is against my better nature." he replied. I forced the darker half of my brain not to blurt out that he had no better nature.

"Then tell me this," I whispered. Herobrine had to lean in to hear me properly. "Did you kill Steve on the day of his death?"

"No."

"You lying ass!" I screamed, causing a squaze to come try to calm me down. I shooed it away, probably scaring the crap out of it in the process. "You can't even tell the truth to your 'wife?!' I don't care if I was forced to marry you or not. I actually thought- and I don't know why I did- that you were changing."

"Why would I need to change?" Herobrine's pupiless eyes burned with fury. I did not flinch.

"Herobrine, you are a monster." I finally hissed. I must have hit a sore spot in the beast, because he choked on his own words. I stood up, knocking the chair I sat on onto the floor, filling the empty palace with a loud crashing sound.

I stormed down the hallway and out to the garden; I had memorized the path exactly.

As I stepped out into the flowery wonderfulness, I heard a "psst" by the fence. I glanced around to make sure no mobs could see me, and approached the fence, crouching in front of it as a blonde haired head popped out from behind a fencepost.

"Are you Uno?" the head asked. I nodded, taking note of the considerately high-pitched voice this head spoke with. Most likely a girl.

The head stood, connected to a female body of no more than fourteen. Caleb would have been that age at that time. "They call me Iva." she smiled. I forced a smile back. I didn't smile that much, not anymore.

She leaned in close to me. "I know how much you want to get out of here, Uno." she whispered. I crossed my arms questioningly.

"How would you know anything about me?" I asked doubtfully, but made sure to keep my voice just at a whisper. Iva chuckled.

"I see you staring out of that huge window, like, every night."

I feel my eyes unwillingly widen. "It's that obvious?" I whispered in worry. Iva shrugged.

"If you're me." she replied simply. I felt myself let my arms go slack.

"So what are you proposing here?" I asked with hopes soaring high.

Those hopes were fulfilled with Iva's next words.

"How'd you like a ticket out of this hell hole?"