Chapter 7: The Reveal
Disclaimer: You know…
It has been four years since Ash lost his mother, the only piece of family he had left, four years since he found out about his dark powers and four years since visions started to appear in his dreams. He has grown to be more than just a child, that part of him that was constantly scared was gradually being replaced with a fighter. Although Ash was content with his current lifestyle, he always had one rule,
that was to say that he was living his mother. This always made Ash wonder why, but he never knew that he would find the answer very soon.
Ash and Sparky were sneaking behind a bush. "Are you sure about thisss?" the creeper whispered.
"Absolutely," Ash replied, "All we have to do is wait for Mirabelle to come and we give her a big surprise."
"Sssoundsss great, but why today? It'sss not her birthday."
"Today is very special for enderfolk, it's the Chorus Festival. My mum would tell me stories about the End and all the large Chorus Trees, the chorus fruit is very important as it's used to make buildings and it can be eaten." Ash explained.
"Ooh, that explainsss the purple coloured confetti," Sparky said.
"Sh, she's coming!"
Mirabelle was wandering around the courtyard trying to find her two best friends, she came across a certain bush and,
"HAPPY CHORUS FESTIVAL!"
Mirabelle jumped back from the volume and sighed with relief.
"I finally found you guys," Mirabelle sighed, "You scared me there."
"Sssinccce it'sss the Chorusss Fessstival, do we get to eat any fruit?" Sparky beamed, "Do we, do we?"
"All right, all right," Ash got a fruit out and stuck it Sparky's mouth due to his lack of hands, "And here's one for you Mira," he said as he passed another fruit to her.
"Thanks Ash," Mirabelle took the fruit and started eating it.
"Yeah Fanksss," Sparky said with his mouth full, "It tastesss good!" Sparky managed to swallow the rest of the fruit and sighed with content.
-Time Skip-
Sparky had gone home already, so Ash sticked with Mirabelle for the remainder of time they had left at school. Ash was feeling quite weary after sport and combat lessons and a lack of sleep. It was his dreams, it would either be visions of his mother's past or another ender named Azriel, his eyes looked familiar but otherwise Ash did not recognize him at all.
"So I was thinking that since it's the Chorus Festival, maybe you could bring your mum along and we can meet parents," Mirabelle explained.
"Hmm?" a half asleep Ash replied, "But my mum's dead…"
"What?!" Mirabelle's purple eyes widened.
Ash realised his error "Forget what I just said!"
"Wait, so who's looking after you?" Mirabelle asked.
"A player called Herobrine, why?"
"Are you crazy Ash?!" Mirabelle exclaimed, "Don't you know what he did?"
"Oh come on Mira," Ash said, "What's the worst that could happen?"
"That guy is a murderer," Mirabelle explained with frustration, "If you don't know, then you know that he's killed many people and mobs in a great war. Notch himself had to come to defeat him!"
"Promise you won't tell anyone about this?" Ash asked with fear.
"On my pearl…"
-Time Skip-
"Why didn't you tell me about this?!" Ash screeched.
"Look, I can explain," Herobrine tried to calm the ender down.
"Explain?!" Ash clearly wasn't happy, "Why didn't you explain four years ago?!"
Ash picked up the closest object he could get his hands on, "And what the Nether is with the photo?!"
"First of all, nothing needs to get smashed," Herobrine said with a hint of fear, "So put the photo back on the table. Second of all, tone down your language."
Ash took deep breaths and looked at the photo 'Who is she?' Was all he thought,
"Look," Hero sighed, "I never wanted things to be this complicated, and my eyes weren't always like this…"
Ash stayed silent throughout the whole explanation, "I could've had a normal, I could've been able to live in civilization without fearing about other people if I didn't go into that stronghold!" Herobrine banged his fist on the table, "I went in and well…
Flashback
Hero was wandering through an abandoned library, torch in hand. His eyes were like that of his twin back then. Suddenly he noticed a strange looking book. "Why not?" he said to himself. As soon s he touched the book, he went into a trance-like state, chanting in a dead language and his eyes faded to white and glowing. He felt powerful as the energy crackled around him and he laughed with sadism, "Why not…" he said, "Make them bow at my feet?" He cackled and stormed out of the building, just before it collapsed.
End flashback
"I became a monster," Herobrine said with regret, "Raised up an army through my corrupted powers, and, I remember every single face, filled with horror, grief, anger… I-it gripped me, the corruption. It held a tight grip on me… You see, divine intervention is extremely rare because most of the time, things sort out by themselves, but when there is mass murder, something has to be done about it."
Flashback
Herobrine crashed into the ground, leaving a large sizzling crater. He never felt this helpless before. Then, Notch appeared,
"Have you had enough of this madness already?" The creator demanded.
"Never…" Herobrine coughed up a bit of blood, "Not while the darkness runs through my veins…"
"Very well then," Notch narrowed his eyes and raised his hand, in it was a white crystal. Herobrine started writhing, and slowly, the darkness was sucked into the crystal, now black.
"W-what, h-happened to me?" Herobrine whispered. He looked into a puddle of water and shot up, "M-my eyes! This wasn't a nightmare?!"
"Unfortunately, no," Herobrine looked up to find Notch standing there, "Once darkness enters an entity, it can't be entirely removed, your eyes serve as a reminder of your sins and the darkness that will never leave."
End flashback
"Ok, that explains what happened," Ash said, "But who's the person in the picture,"
"She wasn't a person," Herobrine said, "She was a shape-shifter. Her name's Gloria, she had the kindest soul in the whole world."
"Why did you leave her then?"
"I didn't," Hero's eyes glimmered, "She was killed,"
"Oh…" Ash immediately looked down, "I guess I should say sorry…"
"No need," Herobrine replied, "It wasn't your fault anyway, fate is just cruel. Sometimes, the kindest people can have the cruelest past. That's what happened to her." Herobrine picked up the picture, "I can never forget those eyes, those lovely, purple eyes…" He then motioned to the flowerpot, "See that tulip? The red ones are always her favourite. Sometimes, I wonder how she could still be so forgiving, after all those years of torture and murder, by that I mean she was tortured for seven years and her parents were murdered…" Hero sighed, and a single tear dropped down.
All Ash could do was attempt to comfort Hero, as the tears flowed out, from years and years of pain and sorrow…
A/N So first of all, thank you Randomness Girl and StressOfWriting for the reviews! Secondly, WOO-HOO! Longest chapter yet! So stay tuned for the next chapter!
R.F.
