I don't own Minecraft. Notch does, along with his friends, Mojang, and affiliate companies.

Sorry for the long wait. This file was trapped on my computer, so I needed a flash drive I got for Christmas to retrieve it. That and other, more personal stuff trapped me. Well, at least you can read it now. So... go?

The pair arrived at the inn. Steve paid the innkeeper a few diamonds, securing them a nice double bedroom suite for the night.

The innkeeper commented, "Nice catch. Don't see why you want double bedroom; you'll probably just use one."

Steve scowled, before snatching his room keys and following Elesa up the redstone elevator. They arrived at their floor soon enough, and the former apprentice took the bedroom further embedded in the suite, at Steve's request.

"After all," he explained, "if an intruder comes in, it'll be harder for them to get to you."

She gave him a pointed look. "I'm not some damsel in distress. Besides, if an intruder does come in, odds are that you're their target. You're the one who just shattered Herobrine's hold over your city; he could send members from other cults that worship him after you."

Steve nodded. "True. But I can handle myself better, I think."

As she walked into her room, she asked, "Why do you think that?"

"I just fought off town acolytes, a crazed priest, and the king of the Nether himself. I think I can handle an intruder."

"Careful, reaper. Hubris has been the fall of many heroes… and heroines," Elesa said cryptically.

Steve noticed she stressed the fact that both genders could be saviors.

He hadn't meant to come off chauvinistic, but now he was realizing his mistake. Steve sighed, locked the room doors, and went to bed.

He slept fitfully; nightmares plagued his slumber, all of them containing hellfire, red stone, and a demonic voice, only personified by piercing red eyes.

Null walked, calmly and with an air of peace. Yet all who crossed his path were terrified of this figure.

Red eyes regarded the world around him beneath his white mask. His grey and black robes were simple enough, and Null didn't bother a single person. Yet everyone quivered in fear.

He took out the orb of darkness, and this, in some people's minds, solidified the fact that this man, if he was even human, was evil. The orb elongated on one side, weakly but enough to Null's trained eye.

The figure in the white mask headed toward Ruby Village.

Steve awoke drenched in cold sweat. He stifled his own screams, as to not awake Elesa. He panted, eyes filled with fear but slowly draining, to be replaced with relief.

"It was just a dream. Thank Notch, it was just a dream." Steve sat up, closed his eyes and sighed.

"Want to talk about it?" Elesa asked, much to Steve's surprise.

He nearly fell off his bed, and then reddened as he acknowledged his overreaction. He flicked the switch to activate the glowstone lamp overhead, and turned toward the amused girl.

Steve shrugged, after a while. "It was just a dream."

"No. It was a nightmare. And judging by your reaction, it was a pretty bad one."

"How'd you tell I screamed?"

"I wasn't sleeping. I was reading more about dimensions and planes. After all, they're the key to saving those people in the Nether. When you screamed for a second, I went over to check on you."

"Ah. Well, no need to worry. Although you should get some rest," Steve advised.

"I will." Elesa reassured him. "But you need to tell me if any of your nightmares bother you. They're portals and planes in their own right, you know."

Now Steve was interested. "Are they? Go on."

Elesa sat on his bed, and Steve tried to shut up the memory of what the innkeeper said. Only need one bed…

Shut up! Steve thought. He'd never thought of any girl in any way past romance and into… that. After all, a proper union had to come first. So it was peculiar to Steve, but he pushed that down to dwell upon later. Now, he needed to listen to the girl in front of him, on his bed, potentially in his bed soon…

No, damn it! He screamed in his mind. Flashes of Elesa entered his mind, not all of them simple friendship.

Steve held up a finger to quiet Elesa before she started. "I'm not feeling… normal, right now. How about you tell me about the portals in our dreams tomorrow?"

She smiled at him, unaware of what was going on behind his dark brown eyes. "Sure. I'll finish the chapter I'm on, and then I'll sleep. Good night, and this time try to sleep tight."

He nodded and smiled back, his eyes trailing her as she left to her room. Letting out a long breath of relief, he closed his eyes to focus on what the Nether was causing these sinful thoughts.

He heard a laugh, not from Elesa's room or any room near their suite. It was in his head, but he didn't imagine it.

Herobrine was entering his mind. For now, evidently he was trying to toy with Steve by inserting sinful images of the one companion he's had since the heretic outbreak began.

Since his old life ended…

Steve sighed. He'd have to learn to ignore these thoughts, along with whatever else the ruler of the underworld could come up with. Hopefully, the demonic overlord wouldn't think to go anywhere past mischief.

Steve slept, not plagued with the previous nightmares but with images of that sin and several others. While he did wake up, it was at the normal time. He did sweat a bit, but it was from the heat and not fear.

Elesa opened the door to his room, and as Steve's eyes met hers he flushed.

Her eyes narrowed. "More nightmares that you're still too stubborn to tell me about?"

Steve simply shook his head, not trusting his mouth for the time being. Ignoring such impurities was much harder when purity had been one's entire life just yesterday.

Elesa nodded, unconvinced. "Right. I'm going down to get breakfast. There's a bathroom in my half of the room, freshen up then head down and eat with me. I'll be waiting."

Steve nodded. Elesa left, and Steve went over to her room.

Inside, there was a similar bed, but on her pillow was the book she'd been so avidly reading the night before, next to a smaller novel. Her bed was neatly made, and he entered the bathroom after one last scan.

He needed a nice shower.

Elesa was indeed waiting for him, to the point that she hadn't eaten a single bite. Steve could tell she wasn't too perky about it.

"Finally!" Elesa exclaimed. "Notch, did you use up all the hot water? The shower was long enough, and your hair is still looking wet."

Steve shook his head, surprised to see a plate similar to hers in front of him. "Is this mine?"

"No, of course not. It's for the other reaper around here, Bob. Of course it's yours."

Steve poked an egg on his plate. "Why'd you get me a plate?"

"You were taking too long. By now all the good food is gone; you'd be left hungry and then where would we be?"

"Thanks." Steve said sincerely. No one had been that nice to him recently, although that might have something to do with the fact that until recently, everyone wanted to capture or kill him.

"No problem. Now hurry, we need to get to Sapphire City soon."

Steve looked up from his plate. "Why?"

"I want to read the next volume… of both my favorite novel and the dimensional planes book."

Steve bit into a loaf of bread. "Alright." He noted the favorite novel subject for later.

Soon, both finished their food. They returned to the room, gathered their things (Steve's weapons, Elesa's book, etc.), and entered the lobby to leave.

The innkeeper grinned at Steve. "How'd it go?"

Steve scowled just as before. "Nothing happened. Nothing that you'd think of."

"Sure," the innkeeper said. "Well, tonight you at least thought about it. Perhaps next time, you'll act on your thoughts."

Steve waved him off, and as he and Elesa exited, he realized what the innkeeper had said.

You at least thought about it.

Steve ran back to the inn, but the keeper was gone.

Null looked at the little orb in his palm. It was gradually but surely pulling with more strength per step.

He passed a few dying torches as he entered the city limits. Null flinched, muttering, "Fire… fire is what killed her."

He turned to the torches, took out a pair of palette knives, and cross-sliced the torch over and over again in fury. It broke into splinters, and the fire fully died out.

"Good," Null said to himself.

He walked forward, the dark smoke orb in his hand now shaking and pointing. It and the soul it bonded with were in the same city; reunion was inevitable.

Not much action, but certainly some information. Steve's not as pure as he once was, Null's closing in, and Herobrine has a direct tunnel into Steve's mind.