Exception #2

A/N: And here we are, with the second chapter! :D Yaaaaa

EARLY BUT I COULDN'T WAIT I'M SO HAPPY OMFGOMFG *runs in circles screaming*

NOTE: Not all, probably not even HALF as many future chapters will be updated this soon. You have been warned.

Oh, this chapter. I honestly love it. :D

Thanks to Insane-Discord, GoldenPiggy, Trefoil-underscore and Tonights Army for following/faving/reviewing. :3

Enjoy.

{{{/\\\}}}

The first thing Steve woke up to was the air.

He yelled out, falling to the floor before he could roll back into bed. His head briefly clipped the floor, making him see white spots for a moment.

Rubbing his head, he sat up, taking in the overly dusty clock on the wall that read somewhere around nine in the morning. Which was okay, but not great.

It took him a moment to notice that the burns from yesterday were not only just scabbed, but the scabs were peeling- a sign that they were healing fast.

Sighing, he stood, deciding to wake up a little more by exploring the contents of the room. There was an open closet that held a few shirts that looked to be in his size- however, not knowing who they belonged to, he didn't touch them. For the most part, save a few pairs of jeans, the closet was empty.

The dressers by the bed, however, were a different story.

In the one across form the bed, top shelf, there was an envelope with a small slip of paper in it, a plain silver ring that was tied to a long, thick black cord, and a black box the size of both Steve's fists together, engraved with many small lines- that, instead of making indents, popped out from the box like little tubes. It didn't open.

The ring was dull, tarnished, and slightly... charred, as if by fire. When he rubbed, it indeed came off a little, like soot.

The letter was less than half a piece of paper, written in a code of some type. It was mostly illegible, too, and was faded with age.

After putting the letter back, he shut the drawer. He looked through the others, through the rest of the room.

He found something else in the bottom drawer of the nightstand by the bed. It was a wooden photo frame, and the picture within was of a black haired man, grinning, with an arm slung around- somehow, although he didn't look to happy about it and was stubbornly staring in the other direction- Hero. When Steve flipped over the frame, opened it, and looked at the back of the picture it had a small inscription on it.

4-12-68

Hero's 1700th

It didn't make any sense for a moment, but then- 'Hero's 1700th... birthday? Maybe. But then, he's ancient... makes sense.' The only concern he had- who was the man in the picture?

Setting it down, he proceeded to research the room for any clues he may have missed as to the previous occupant, but again resulted with nothing.

Eventually, Hero came down from the staircase to drag Steve down to what seemed to be a dining room, with food already on the table.

"What's this for?" Hero rolled his eyes, depositing Steve into a chair near the one at the end- of course, where Hero was sitting.

"My brother." Steve blinked and Hero had to take a moment. Then he continued, "It's not that big a deal. Just shut up and eat."

Steve nodded, and looked at the plate, which was surprisingly full of things like toast, a small portion of meat, a baked potato. It took a while, and most of their food, before anything else happened.

It was when Steve finished and looked up at Hero again, because Hero was now openly staring at him. Steve stared back uncomfortably for a half second before shifting and rolling his shoulders a little. Hero blinked then, seeming to realize that he was done. They both stood, Hero grinning a little.

"Maybe this won't be a waste of my time after all."

"That's... wait, what?"

"No."

"Come on, you have nothing better to be doing, unless you want to clean out the other guest rooms. If you couldn't tell, they're filthy."

"No."

"Why."

"It's going to kill me isn't it."

"No, it's not supposed to," Hero spoke from somewhere within a small tunnel he'd made about four blocks underground, setting up an elaborate trap.

"Then why are you making it?"

"Someone else. If I wanted to trap you I'd do it while you weren't looking. Now take this-" he appeared to toss up a thin tripwire up to Steve- "and pull it behind you to that other wall until it's really tight. Then set it into the wall, cover it with another block or something."

"..."

"Hurry or I'll trap your room so thourougly you'll be dressed in tripwire for the next week."

"If I do die I'm blaming you." He took the tripwire, directing it to where it was supposed to go.

"You'll need to learn how to avoid them then," Hero yelled out, as just after he fastened the wire, his hand lightly brushed it- and a ten block wide and long pit opened up, revealing a vat of pink dye underneath that seemed deep enough to submerge someone but not to drown them.

"Yeah, sure, okay, I need to know this."

Throughout the day, more and more traps were set up. More dye traps- some were utterly insanely complicated, others Steve figured out how to replicate in moments. There were a few random pits, a few random animal and mob pits- how Hero managed to do it was not revealed- and when Hero decided there were enough up he made Steve figure out how they were activated, how to avoid them. He did so pretty quickly.

Then, since there was still a little bit of time, they spent an hour or so lightly cloaking the hallways of the fortress with traps.

Not to mention the exterior of Steve's room and near the staircase, which was practically a minefield.

Staring at the general mess of invisible wires, plating, and buttons strung throughout the room, Steve took one moment before muttering, "I think you're bringing breakfast to my room, because I can't get through that."

Hero stared. "If you're so stupid as to think I would actually do that, then I think you're beyond helping."*

Finally, when they reached a small, untrapped room that was furnished by surprisingly soft couches of quartz and cotton, the two of them each took a couch and a breath, Steve more so than Hero, who seemed like he hadn't even used a bit of energy.

After a moment, before Steve could speak, Hero simply said, "Again, my brother." Steve didn't respond other than a small hum, tired and trying to think. Somehow, he thought of something he hadn't really thought about before.

"So, this is probably personal, but- why are you here, if you can go to the Overworld? Or do you just like it here?"

Hero didn't seem pissed, which was a good sign. "First, I don't really like dealing with your kind. Second, I do like it here sometimes, mainly for the silence. The reason I'm really here, though, is because fire is my element."

"...Could you elaborate for me there?"

Hero sighed, but did. "Each god or demi-god gets a certain element that they can control best. Some can control generals, the whole element, like water- you can pull all kinds of crap with that one- or specifics, like... mist. I mean, you can sorta use the rest, but it's like... like using someone else's hand to write when you need yours, or switching and using your left hand when you're a right handed writer."

"What else is in the general category?"

"There's earth- cause mountains and all that, it's slower than the others but it can be scary when you're dealing with someone who knows how to use it- and then there's air. It's not great, in a fight you have to be creative- like, suck the air right from the area around a person, maybe, or shove them back far enough so you can get a weapon. Personally I don't like the element, but it's probably okay if you know how to use it."

Steve took a moment to finally realize something. 'It's like he's actually being... nice.' Lightly smiling, he continued. "So, what about water? You could probably drown anyone."

Hero coughed lightly. "it's kinda funny, because it's a common accident with growing gods that recieve the element- they end up, upon maturing their power, submerging wherever they are. A room, an island, a city- I think the last one only happened once- wherever it is, it's drenched and it's down deep."

Steve thought of something. "What's a common accident with fire?"

Hero then averted his gaze a little. "Ah... well, lighting everything on fire."

Steve waited for a moment. "...Why do you seem so guilty when you say that?"

Hero sighed. "Maybe because I accidently, upon maturing, set the entire Aether on fire."

Steve stared. "How the fuck do you do that?!"

"I don't know, but it was crazy. Took hours to beat out the buildings." Now he was looking a little more humoured. "It turned out alright, but Notch didn't shut up for weeks."

Steve giggled a little. "I still don't get it. The whole Aether. The whole freaking dimension?"

Hero grimaced. "Apparently. In some places I believe there's still charring that hasn't disappeared, mainly where it doesn't rain."

Steve shook his head, laying back down. Then he got another idea and sat up. "Wait, you can make fire- doesn't that mean-"

"No, I can't light the portal. It's broken on the other side, and I can't make another because a- I don't have permission and it's not an emergency, and b- I'd have to place it somewhere else, and that would have to be with help from the Overworld, meaning that the portal would be useless because that person would come through. In other words, a waste of time. So, whether you like it or not, you're stuck here until someone comes to drag you back."

Steve laid back down, groaning softly, pressing a pillow to his face.

Then, Hero blinked. "That reminds me. You did tell someone you were coming, correct?"

Steve stopped for a moment, lifting the pillow to look at Hero. "Yeah..."

"How long did you say you were to... be gone? Here? How long until they should check if you're alive?"

And then, something within slammed home. Steve murmured inaudibly for a moment, then realized what he'd actually said then.

"...three months. Three fucking months. Damn it, I didn't realize I'd said months, I thought I'd said weeks...nngh." He put the pillow pack over his face, groaning again. "I hate when I say something like that and don't remember until it's too late."

"So that's actually a common thing for you to do? I thought the whole thing with me having to bring you breakfast to your room was just an accident or a joke, but apparently I was wrong. Maybe you really are beyond help."

"Shut up."

Hero chuckled from across the room. "This means you have to spend more time here, and less time I have to spend being checked up on or leaving for something I don't want to waste my time on. This is great."

"For you only."

{{{/\\\}}}

A/N: *... *stares*... XD *claps* That was the best quote I have ever created and I am so proud of it. And it's honestly perfectly within character so I can post it on my profile *wheezing*

A little bit of OOCness in the conversation, but I'm too stupid to figure out how to fix it without ruining the information or the moment. Meh.

I changed Hero's age. Hehe. Whoever guesses the original age, you'll have the next A/N decorated with your username (unless it's inappropiate) :D And I made him almost.. I think, maybe... as old as Sebastian from Black Butler XD (I can't get the one meme out of my head)

See you next time on Exception.