Thank you all so much for your support, whether you favorited/followed or reviewed or even if you've just read my silly little stories, thank you! I didn't mean for the next chapter to take so long. There's a lot to do in Minecraft, after all, I should be able to come up with stuff.

To the guest who wanted me to incorporate some sort of fabric work into one of the chapters, I think I know just the way, so look out for that. It might be next chapter, or maybe the one after that.

Which brings up another thing I wanted to say: If you want to see something specific, either super fluffy or incredibly dark, feel free to ask and I just might do it. Just another way to get some ideas flowin'!

Also, good luck figuring out who the two builders are. I did have two actual people in mind for them.

Enjoy!


"I'd like to show you something," Herobrine says, completely out of the blue. From his spot on a chair, Steve sets down one of the books Herobrine had brought him from a stronghold.

"You do?"

"Yes. Come." Steve scrambles out of the chair when Herobrine turns and walks out the door, eager to find out what his surprise is. He grabs his bag on the way out, just in case—with Herobrine, he can never fail to be prepared for anything and everything.

"Wait, do we have to teleport?" Steve asks suspiciously, slowing down while getting ready to bolt back into the house and not come out again if Herobrine's answer is yes.

"Yes."

Steve turns right around and starts walking back to the house, but a strong grip on his bag stops him in his tracks. Try as he might, the grip is impossible to break. He sighs and turns around.

"Walking would be futile. The distance is too great." Herobrine tries to explain, but Steve's heard it all before.

"Yeah okay. Why can't you ever find something cool that's within walking distance?"

"Do you not like adventure?"

"Well I don't like the walking part," he mumbles, but Herobrine hears him anyway. He sighs again and braces himself as Herobrine puts a hand on his shoulder.

When the world is right again, he opens his eyes expecting brightness, but there is only darkness. One solitary redstone torch sheds dim light around the large cave they apparently appeared in.

"Where are we?"

"Almost to our destination."

Herobrine is standing next to a Nether portal. The moment Steve sees that shiny obsidian he's shaking his head no. "Nope, not happening. No way am I going in there."

"Come now, the Nether is not so horrible. Hot, yes, but you get used to it."

"Maybe you get used to it, you're not human! And you live there!"

"I—while that is true, it does not invalidate my point. Trust me, you'll be fine."

Steve puts his head in his hands and laments about what his life has become.

He enters the portal reluctantly. Herobrine hops in beside him and they let the portal work its strange magic. Just another reason traveling to the Nether sucks—that sick feeling that comes with teleporting hits fast and hard.

When it clears for the second time, the air is noticeably hotter and fire crackles from every direction. No mistaking where they are now.

The air is hard to breath in, a stark contrast from the cool, crisp air of the Overworld. Steve takes some deep breaths, trying to get used to such heavy, hot air, but his efforts are for naught when he finally looks around and sees something that takes his breath away.

A fortress, or more accurately, a castle. Maybe at one point in time it had been a fortress, but the newer structure has been built on top of it and around it in a spectacular manner, the intricacies melding well with the previous fortress's natural structure. In sits in and atop a large mound of netherrack, demanding the attention of all who discover it. Stone and interestingly enough, wood, are incorporated strongly into the design, as well as obsidian, the shining black material like icing on a cake—the castle looks intimidating.

And amazing.

"Woooow!" Steve says in awe, his inner adventurer giddy at the thought of exploring such a massive, mysterious place. "What is this place?"

"This is my home."

Steve's jaw actually drops. "You got to be kidding me."

"I...no, I wouldn't—"

Steve shakes his head. Someday Herobrine would begin to understand human idioms and humor...just not today. "I was just joking. Honestly? I probably should have assumed you'd live in a place like this. It's truly amazing."

Herobrine comes to stand next to Steve, observing the large castle as well despite having see it inside and out for several centuries. "Yes, I was very pleased by how it turned out. I had chosen its builders very specifically."

"Really? Who?"

Herobrine glances at him. "I cannot tell you who but I can tell you why. I chose two builders specifically for their design abilities. One I had observed and found I agreed very strongly with his tastes. He liked to incorporate obsidian and darker materials into his builds, and I very much liked his style. The second didn't usually use those same materials, but he could use a wide variety of colors and make them match expertly. He focused a lot on detail, especially on interior, whereas the other focused more on the building as a whole. I figure that both of them could come up with a house grand and worthy enough for me, and I was right."

Steve might as well have stars shining in his eyes. "Really? Wow that's so cool. How did you get them to do it?"

Herobrine smiles. "I threatened their lives and the lives of everyone they loved."

"That's...well that's about what I expected," Steve says, hiking his bag higher onto his shoulder. At least Herobrine can find humor in his past, judging by the way he said that.

"Can we check it out?" Steve asks. When Herobrine reaches for him, Steve steps back, holding his hands up. "Wait! Can't we walk?" He gestures towards the clearly visible and very much in tact bridge. Jeez, could one guy be so teleportation happy?

"If you want, sure," Herobrine concedes, walking towards the bridge. Having seen everything around his home before, he doesn't waste time sight seeing, but Steve lags behind, taking in the deadly beauty of the Nether.

Steve's never been to the Nether before. He's heard of it before, in stories, but he's never been to it. He's never even tried making a portal before, though he does know how. There just hadn't been any desire to, but seeing it now...it's pretty amazing.

Like the Overworld, there are large pools, but unlike the Overworld, those pools are made entirely of lava. It flows in waterfalls down, creating glowing red hot streams that just add to the atmosphere. The land itself is so unique and different from what he's so used to seeing; it's like there's no order, no rhyme or reason to the way the land is generated. From floating blocks to massive lava oceans, the Nether is one place he'd never of thought he'd be glad to see.

The bridge is a mighty curved affair, having been built more for looks than for functionality. In fact, he's so captivated by the world around him, he misses Herobrine's outstretched hand until he bumps into it.

"Careful," Herobrine says, and Steve sees that the bridge has some missing steps. Herobrine and him step around them.

"Why is it broken? Shouldn't you fix it?"

Herobrine shrugs. "It was built broken." Not like he ever uses the bridge anyway. With the ability to teleport, walking's become a laughable inconvenience.

"Well that's kinda silly," Steve says, hopping over a few more gaps. They're not very big, but to him it doesn't make sense. It does look good, but what if someone falls through?

"I don't mind. I never walk the bridge, for I have no need."

Steve nods to himself. That is true.

When they get to the entrance, Steve thinks maybe the large doors have never been moved before, because how could they? Made of obsidian and stone, no one would be able to open such large and heavy doors.

Except for Herobrine, and now he's starting to see why this castle had been built the way it is. It had been tailored to its owner.

The door doesn't stand a chance. Herobrine appears to barely push, and yet it creeks open easily. It's quite impressive.

If even possible, the inside is more spectacular and amazing than the outside. Whereas the outside had been designed to look strict and clean, the inside is an explosion of colors and detail. One thing Steve's noticed in his short time in the Nether is the prevalence and domination of the color red. And that theme continues with the interior of the castle. Red carpet lines the floor, leading off into adjacent hallways. A grand chandelier hangs from the center of the entrance hall, a mix of fence, what looks like glass panes, and glowstone. It makes for a beautiful ornament to accent the room. A few tables line the walls near the door, various flowers somehow alive and vibrant in clay pots. Though the building's exterior had only some wood, the inside is primarily wood, with stone bricks intricately woven through the designs on the walls.

Opposite the door, a large and colorful glass window sits, landscape depicted within. It looked like...the Overworld? Maybe a plains biome?

"At the time I asked them to build this, I had little desire to be in the Overworld because of the humans I hated so. But I knew I would miss the Overworld itself. Though I had little care for it's people, the Overworld is a place I always feel welcome to and consider my true home," Herobrine says quietly. Steve puts a hand on his shoulder, in sympathy.

"I'd say you're always welcomed there." Steve looks around some more, something about the two builders Herobrine had described nagging at him.

"So...these builders you were talking about..." He starts. Herobrine turns to him. "Are they anything like the people you went to for redstone advice?"

Herobrine smiles, letting that tell Steve his answer. He hadn't been lying when he'd said he couldn't speak about those people. However, Steve is very perceptive to have remembered that and figured out that yes, the people he'd contracted to build his Nether castle years and years ago had also helped him build that farm so recently.

"So, what, they're...immortal? Or something? Like you?"

More like you, Herobrine thinks. It takes all of his considerable control over himself to not say that, though he so badly wants to. What a shock that would be. Most likely, as humans tend to do, he'd laugh and say what a funny joke that is, outright denying the truth of his existence. Although perhaps, in Steve's case, he cannot be faulted for something he does not even know about himself. Maybe someday Herobrine will tell him, but that day is not today. A shame, really.

"If you remember that, then you must also remember that I cannot speak of it." Herobrine shrugs but his face says it all.

"Right...well, their skills at building are incredible. I've never seen such a grand building before. Most of the villages I used to visit had similar buildings, depending on their function. It's kinda weird, actually," Steve adds in a mumble.

"Quite the coincidence," Herobrine agrees, and steers the topic back towards the castle and away from something so sensitive. Even though he used to enjoy and even anticipate lying to and toying with humans; now, he doesn't feel right lying to his friend's face. "Shall we visit the rest of the castle?" He says, gesturing towards the left hall. Steve smiles and nods, thankfully dropping the conversation.

The rest of the castle is just as marvelous as the entrance hall. There are a lot of small, empty rooms, which Herobrine explains are just for looks and not for use, to provide stability to the build. The part of the castle they entered from the left hall doesn't appear to have ever been used. Though there are chests, they are empty as well.

Still, the sights are something to behold, and even more so when they walk the halls on the right. Like the left, a lot of the first rooms are empty, but then they come to the section of the castle Herobrine actually uses.

One room the size of four smaller rooms is filled with nothing but chests, stacked on top of each other and lining the entire room.

Steve assumes, based on his own chest organization methods, that some of the chests would have been filled with important, useful items, like ores, materials, things like that. Maybe a few other chests would have random, strange items.

This is not the case.

Every single chest is filled to the brim with as much as it can handle. None of it is organized.

"How do you live like this?" Steve asks in shock, going through the many chests and having his mind blown again and again.

"I do not use many of these items. They are things I have collected over my many years alive."

"So how do you have so much stuff?"

"I..." Well, he doesn't want to lie anymore. "Some of it I collected myself. Most of it I stole from humans."

"Really?" Steve says, his react luckily not disgusted or angered. He seems more amused than anything.

"Yes..." Please don't ask, please don't ask—

"You never did that to me, did you?"

Herobrine says nothing, he simply looks at Steve, whose smile turns from amused to suspicious. "Did you?"

"..."

"Did you?"

Placing his hands behind his back, Herobrine turns and starts walking away. "Why don't we see the rest?"

"I can't believe it, you did!" Steve says, running in front of Herobrine and crowding him back towards the chests. "You stole from me!"

"Only a small, insignificant amount," Herobrine defends, holding his fingers together about an inch apart.

"I can't believe you!" Steve exclaims, but there's a smile on his face. "You jerk, what'd you take that's so 'insignificant?'"

Behind his back, Herobrine's hands twist together nervously. "Some...diamonds, maybe?"

Steve shakes his head, putting his hands on his hips and cocking a brow. "Have you something to say?"

Somewhat uncharacteristically, he's starting to feel like a chastised child having been caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Yes, he did steal from Steve, when they first met. He'd go to Steve's chests during the night and take some diamonds, some iron and emeralds and other valuable materials. Not too many at once, but his visits probably added up. Not that he had cared.

"An apology is in order, I suppose? Well, my apologies. Will you ever forgive me?" Herobrine says, bowing low as if addressing a person of power. Not something he'd ever do in actuality, but to humor a friend, yes.

"Well, I guess all is forgiven," Steve says with a laugh, gesturing him back up.

They leave the chest room, Herobrine thinking in the back of his mind to return the stolen goods. Truthfully, he'd completely forgotten about that. In recent years, the most time he'd spent in his castle had been to drop items off before he went back to the Overworld, eager to frighten and massacre more people. Since befriending Steve, his castle has been sitting, gathering dust. His teleportation not only works on him and others, but on items as well, giving him the ability to summon whatever he needs to him, even across dimensions. Quite handy.

At one point, when they have explored everything about the castle and begin heading back to the portal, they find their paths blocked by a drove of a creature Steve has never seen before, but what Herobrine knows to be zombie pigmen.

"What are they?" Steve asks, having slowed to a stop a number of blocks away. Herobrine observes the stupid mobs for a few seconds.

"They are zombie pigmen, and as long as you don't hit them, they're harmless. And as long as you're with me, they won't attack, even when hit."

"Zombie pigmen? How...how did they even..." Steve can't even ask the question, it's so ridiculous. Not only are they zombies—evident in their sickly green discolored skin and vacant expressions—but pigmen? Pigs that are men or men that are pigs?

"How do any of us exist? We cannot choose who we are," Herobrine offers.

Steve nods and keeps Herobrine between himself and the pigmen, just in case. "I guess that makes sense."

They return to the portal safely, thankfully not encountering any more mobs. Herobrine secretly is glad for this fact. The mobs of the Overworld are easy to sway, but the mobs of the Nether are harder. The pigmen are easy, the magma cubes as well, but the ghasts, wither skeletons, and blazes are a fair bit harder to control. He probably should have mentioned that to Steve at some point, but since they didn't come across a ghast...maybe next time.

Through some strange time distortion between dimensions, the afternoon of when they'd left has become early morning, with the sun just about to rise over the horizon. Steve drops his bag onto the floor when he gets home before falling into bed, groaning over his sore feet. "Walking sucks," he mumbles into his pillow.

"That is why I do not do it," Herobrine says. He stands by the door, waiting for Steve to fall asleep before he takes his leave.

"Yeah yeah, you and your evil dumb teleportation," the miner says, waving his hand dismissively at Herobrine but keeping his head down. A few moments later he's asleep.

Herobrine smiles at his friend before making good on his promise. When Steve wakes up, there'll be a stack of diamonds and some surprises there waiting for him.