Herobrines POV:

I looked closely at the yellowed map for a moment; I could recognize the language that the faded words were written in, but I didn't know how to understand what the jumbled letters were written in. I had never even bothered to learn how. I sighed in defeat from trying to decipher the words on my own, glancing up from the page. "Well, there are words…but can anyone read Latin?" I asked, unsure if anyone knew. Surprisingly, Deadlox was the one who nodded.

"I studied it for a little bit last year when we visited where Seto is from." He said as he walked over to me. He peered over my shoulder at the map, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the page. "I don't see anything, Hero." He said, crossing his arms. "Try reading it out loud and I'll try to translate it the best I can."

"I doubt you'd make sense of it, I don't know how to pronounce this," He patted my shoulder lightly, giving me an encouraging smile.

"Just give it a try. Even if you butcher the words horribly, I still may be able to understand it if it is important." I looked back at the words. I hesitated for a moment before reading.

"Sigillum antiquis magicae fatorum conteram praecepta maxime momenti et fragmen retro ante sera est." I read the words out loud the best I could, unable to make sense of them. Deadlox stayed silent for a moment, mumbling under his breath.

"Okay so, it's a little weird; doesn't seem like a clue. It just says, 'Ancient magic, sealed by fate, break the most important rules and give a piece back before it is too late." As he spoke, a faint green glow appeared around him, along with the smell of freshly cut grass. He noticed this, giving his now glowing hands a confused look. "What's this?" He said before his eyes flashed a bright green and he fell back. Sky dashed forwards to catch him before he reached the ground. Deadlox was knocked out cold, and the aura around him started to disappear. It then started to appear on the map I was holding. I quickly let go of the paper, taking a few cautious steps back. I expected it to fall, but it stayed floating in the air, as though it was still being held. The green glow then disappeared, though, the page still hung in the air.

"What just happened?" Mitch asked. Ssundee started to back up, there was now a condensed green orb floating in front of the map.

"Is it going to explode?" Jerome asked Ssundee, who only shrugged.

"I don't think so. Explosion spells don't take much magic. It looks like it's trying to store enough energy for something. It could either still be taking energy from Deadlox, or it doesn't have enough to activate." Ssundee gave a worried look towards Deadlox, who was still unconscious. "I don't see his aura activated, so it's probably the latter."

"Even though it's taken energy from an aura, would adding energy from my magic have any effect? I'd be safest if it does end up exploding." I suggested.

"Magic and aura can mix, but it's dangerous if unbalanced. Are you sure you want to try it?" Ssundee asked. I nodded, it would be any safer if I tried than if anyone else did. I walked over to the piece of paper. The green ball had grown slightly dull, most likely because the aura was starting to dissipate. I reached out my hand, my magic sparking along it. I touched the glowing orb. The ball felt like glass, something unusual. My magic traveled over it, but it wasn't drawn in. After a second, there was a sharp burning sensation, and I quickly jerked my hand away. In that second, it had burned my hand enough to leave a bloody handprint on the ball, that was slowly absorbed. That's what it was doing; it drew in my magic through my blood. Crafty. If I were to just add magic like how I tried, it could've become unstable, but to absorb it slowly through something such as blood without it being blood magic, it would keep the ball from being unstable. Either this thing is sentient, or it's a very complicated spell. The ball grew to about as big as a basketball after the blood had disappeared, turning a bright white, with wisps of green throughout, looking like misty clouds. The map started to fall, slipping through the ball, turning it a bright blue. It fell to the ground, a burn now on it, the words gone. I walked forward to grab the paper and was knocked off my feet from a blast of energy, feeling a dull pain in my chest.

-FLASHBACK-

I groaned as I sat up, rubbing my chest where it hurt. My brother stood in front of me, trying to hold in his laughter behind one hand. The other was loosely holding a wooden sword. I could hear snickering behind me, where my grandfather sat on the bench.

"Wha-Why did you do that? He didn't say go." I grumbled.

"He did, didn't you hear him?" Brother asked, kneeling beside where I sat as I shook my head; I didn't hear him. He chuckled under his breath, setting the wooden sword on the ground beside him. "Okay Herobrine, what's bothering you? Usually, you're quick to dodge with your little teleportation trick." He questioned, and I shrugged, looking at the ground. After a second, I spoke, he was going to find out sooner or later.

"I got in trouble again, and this time, it was kind of bad," I said nervously as grandfather walked over to us, his cane the only thing keeping him steady. He's been weak since he'd gotten sick.

"What happened this time Herobrine." He asked, a stern tone in his voice. I knew I wouldn't be in too much trouble since I didn't hurt anyone, but I was still worried.

"All I did was try to blow my way through some stone. I didn't know that it would draw mobs to us, and I didn't know that I was blowing up a vein of Silverfish." I gave an exasperated sigh. Why would I get in trouble for that? No one can tell the difference between them and normal stone. "We were completely fine, I stopped everything from going wrong, but no, I still got in trouble! Why can't they just trust my magic?" I asked, bringing my knees to my chest. Grandfather sighed.

"You're only twelve, a lot of us adults think that it's great you inherited such power from your parents, but others still live in the past and hate hybrids…and then there is the small percent that doesn't want to trust children because of how destructive they can be." He gave me a playful glare as he said that, and I rolled my eyes. I wasn't too destructive, I think.

"Yeah, you have to follow their rules for a bit longer, until you're an adult yourself." Big brother said in a 'matter of fact' tone.

"But brother, that's so long away. I fight off monsters, I mine the most ores of the apprentices, and heck, I'm being trained by the best warrior this village has ever had!" I said, pointing to my grandfather. "I don't want to wait another six years for them to finally believe in me." Big brother smiled.

"Well, until then, you have your great brother to believe in you and believe you no matter what. That will never change." I smiled, hugging my brother.

"Do you promise?" I asked, and he nodded, hugging me back.

"I promise little brother."

-END OF FLASHBACK-

I gasped awake, holding my chest as the faint feeling of pain faded away. It was right over where my heart used to be, and it was thrumming with some sort of energy that wasn't there before. It felt familiar though. I was tackled by Deadlox in a tight hug before I could try to stand up.

"Hero! Oh my gosh, I thought you were dead, you were barely breathing. How do you feel?" Deadlox asked quickly, almost in a panic. He looked pale and tired. His brown eyes still had a green tint to them, they were probably slightly damaged from the sudden influx of aura.

"Uh, I feel fine, I guess? What about you? Are your eyes okay?" He nodded.

"Yes, everything's just a little blurry." My attention was drawn towards Ssundee, who walked over to me.

"Are you sure you're fine though? The blue kind of argues against that." Blue? Did he mean the color the ball turned?

"Blue?" I stood up to walk towards the small pond that was nearby. I looked closely at the clear water, seeing my reflection. There was a faint blue glow around me. Now that I noticed this, I could also smell the familiar faint scent of vanilla. To be sure, I held out a hand in front of me, only using a sliver of its still-weak energy. A small flame appeared in my hand, with a warmth that my magic flames never held. I smiled, feeling exited. The first thing I've felt in a thousand years.

"Jerome looked at the small flame, then back at me, with worry in his eyes. "Is that…" He didn't have to finish his thought, I nodded. I knew what that thrumming in my chest was then, a piece of my soul. Then there was a sudden flash of light in front of me. My nonexistent heart stopped as I recognized who appeared. It was my big brother, his sword drawn. He was crouched slightly in a fighting stance. I couldn't see his face because he was facing away from me, but I knew he had a serious look.

"Oh! Hi Sky." Big brother said, sighing in relief as he straightened and put his sword back in its sheath. "I could swear I felt some sort of powerful energy or something near here. Did you see anything happen?" He asked, and Sky glanced past his shoulder at me, tilting his head towards my brother. I quickly shook my head, I didn't want to confront him. I was afraid of him hating me; I was afraid of the possibility that he won't forgive me for what I've done. Sky sighed, looking back towards my brother.

"You would not believe the past few days we've had." He stated. My brother chuckled, crossing his arms.

"Try me, I've seen some weird things. What happened?" He asked, and Sky glanced back at me again. Although I couldn't see his eyes, I knew they were demanding me to talk to my brother. I put a hand on my brother's shoulder, making him freeze up.

"Big brother," I said quietly. He quickly turned around to face me, jumping back and grabbing his sword in one fluid motion. He had a look of both anger and confusion on his face. I stayed where I was, silent. After a moment of silence, the anger was replaced with more confusion.

"Herobrine," Brother said in a flat tone. Everyone stayed silent, backing off slightly. They knew this was between him and I. He gave a small sigh, crossing his arms and looking at me with sad eyes. "I thought you would have made a move by now. Possibly a lightning bolt or fireball…or are you attempting a new tactic by waiting for the opportunity to attack, like a coiled snake waiting to strike its prey?" He asked bitterly. I opened my mouth to speak, but he spoke before I could, taking a step closer. "You tried that 'big brother' crap before, remember? I thought you weren't the type to use the same trick?" His voice was laced with anger, his glare seeming to be as sharp as daggers.

"Because it is not a trick," I said, taking my own step closer to him. He was caught off guard, raising his sword in case he needed to block an attack. "Look, some stuff has happened, and I'm no-WOAH!" He quickly swung his sword at me. I barely ducked in time, slipping on the muddy edge of the pond, nearly falling into the shallow water.

"Likely story, Herobrine." He spat my name. I stood straight, holding up my hands so he could see I wasn't using any magic.

"Look, brother, I don't want to hurt you." He sang the sword at me again. I teleported to the left of him, keeping my hands up. "Please listen."

"Stop playing with me." He narrowed his eyes. "I'm not a fan of games." I knew that, I was the sole purpose for that dislike. I used to make him play futile games to try and save people that still ended up dying.

"I'm not playing any games brother, you have to believe me." I quietly said, shrinking back when he suddenly started to yell. He circled around me. I didn't move.

"Why would I believe what you say? All you do is attack and destroy, laughing as you do! Why would I listen to anything that comes out of your mouth?" The tone in his voice was that of pure hatred. He swung at me again with his sword, and I teleported behind him, kicking him in the back, making him fall into the pond. I didn't mean for his head to hit a sharp rock as he fell, causing dark red to slowly stain the water. He stood after a second, a wide gash just over his right eye. A golden light surrounded him along with the smell of cinnamon as he healed himself. The look on his face meant he was done playing around.

"Oh no…I only meant to push you into the water. Y-You, know, to try and get you to listen-AH!" He had raised his hand towards me, shooting a ball of light at me. I fell to my knees as electricity ran through my body, paralyzing me. I coughed up black blood, unable to breathe. Each of his light attacks did something different, and this was the kind that almost shreds the insides of the target; it's lethal to a normal human. I stood up as soon as my body let me, jumping out of the way of another ball of light. I stumbled a bit, activating my weak aura to make a shield. It broke as soon as the magic hit, but it luckily dissipated it, so I wasn't hurt. But I was knocked off my feet from the force. Brother started walking towards me, the grip on his sword tightening as confusion was forming in his eyes. I threw a fireball at him to give myself the chance to teleport again, but he deflected it with his sword. I didn't have time to teleport and held my arm up to block my fire. Normally, I was fireproof, except when I receive a direct hit from my own magic. It burned through my forearm, causing a near bone-deep gash. Also, because this was my own magic, I couldn't heal it, it can only heal at a normal state like this. He stopped in front of me. He looked far more intimidating from the lower angle I had from where I was sitting.

"How do you have an aura?" He demanded, his own starting to look less like a light, and more like a viscous liquid, it flowed slowly around him, duller than before. I've only seen that once, during one of the said games.

"I-I told you already, didn't I? That I wasn't trying to trick you?" I tried to explain. "I went home brother, to where we grew up. I remembered the night we became what we are, and they found me. My mind was fixed, and they let me tag along. You have to teach them not to be so trusting, especially if it includes someone like me." I said, trying to have a joking tone at the end. The expression on my brother's face didn't change. I half expected him to ask them himself, but he didn't. "You still don't believe me, huh? I can see that." I stood up and took a step forward, and he didn't move. His grip on his sword loosened slightly. "I don't remember much, I'm sorry. I don't remember when you started to train as a warrior. I don't remember our grandfather's name, nor anyone else's from the village. I don't remember anything really. But there is something I do remember." I said. I teleported right in front of him, hugging him before he could react. "What happened to my brother? What happened to how it used to be, the miner apprentice that disobeyed every rule and the second-best warrior in the village who followed those rules to a T. What happened to believing in me and believing me, no matter what?" His eyes went wide in surprise, dropping his sword. His aura disappeared. I let go of him. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to guilt-trip you. But you have a really bad problem with not listening."

"Herobrine." He had tears in his eyes. "For all these years…you truly were under the control of something bad?"

"No." I had to be honest. "I forgot everything, and that molded me into something horrible. I thought I was a monster. I can't have the excuse of not being in control. It was still my own choice. I don't think I even want you to, but are you able to forgive me?"

"Little brother, I'm sorry. My trust in you was broken again and again with every fight and with every trick. Trust can take years to build, seconds to break…" He paused, for a second. "And it can take forever to mend. I'm the king of Craftia, I must protect the ones I love and rule over. So, no matter how much I want to, I can't forgive you." I gave him a small smile.

"Then, it's a good thing we're immortal," I said. He gave me another confused look. "I will make myself known, as who I actually am. No more hiding. Some will be fine with me, like them." I motioned towards my friends. "Others though, won't be. But I will work to the point that everyone can forgive me, everyone. Then, I'll spend my time making up for what I've done to you. Even if it takes another thousand years if that's what it'll take." I spoke with as much conviction as I could. My brother gave a small smile, shaking his head.

"I haven't seen you so set on doing something since before Lenia died." A sudden memory surfaced, catching me off-guard.

-SECOND FLASHBACK-

I was sitting in a chair, leaning against a hospital bed that had my best friend asleep in it. We were the same age of only eight. She had long white hair and magenta eyes. The doctor said that her albino genes were what was killing her, but her mother has the same affliction, but she's fine. I sighed, as I held Lenia's hand as she slept. I remembered when we had first met, although not clearly, we were only three. I had wandered off from my brother in the park and came across a small birthday party. It was her birthday, not long before she wasn't allowed to walk anymore. She had worn a princess dress, that became the inspiration for my nickname for her. We were close friends, and I carried her wherever she wanted to go, so she wasn't stuck in a hospital. I was knocked out of my thoughts when Lenia woke up with a coughing fit. Each cough scared me, the doctor said the force of the coughs could stop her fragile heart. I didn't like the doctor, he'd leave a dying girl alone with a kid, not smart in my opinion. I moved to sit beside her on the bed, patting her back lightly until the coughing subsided.

"Hey, Herobrine?" She asked, her voice hoarse from the coughing. Her normally cheery tone was replaced with something more serious. "Will you promise me something?"

"What is it, princess?" I asked.

"I know you keep denying it, but you need to accept it, I can't be here much too longer." I looked away from her, she was right, I didn't want to believe that she was inevitably going to die. "Promise me you won't forget me, or what I taught you." She said, sounding years more mature than what she was. She held out her hand, a small blue flame appearing. Her bright orange aura always glowed strong and unwavering, much like her spirit, and smelled of the rare Kadupul flowers she loved to visit. I would sneak into the hospital and teleport us there in the night to see when they bloomed. I held out my own hand beside hers, a red flame appearing. My aura wasn't made for fire, but she taught it to me nonetheless.

"I promise, my princess. How could I forget you?" I gave her a smile, which she returned. Suddenly tired, she leaned against me to keep herself up. "Princess?" I asked, concerned.

"Then, can you promise me something else?" She asked, her hand resting on the locket she always kept around her neck. She took it off and handed it to me. "Don't tell my parents why, but can you put some of my ashes into that locket?" I was confused. "I mean, can you bury my locket with a piece of me by those flowers we always go to? My parents just want to bury me in the boring graveyard. I'd rather be somewhere with happy memories." I didn't like the tone of her voice. She started drifting off to sleep.

"W-Wait! Why are you suddenly talking like this?" I asked, gently shaking her awake. She looked at me with tired eyes.

"I know I won't wake up if I fall asleep, the doctor made sure of it…I asked him." I instantly thought back to the juice she drank just a few minutes before the doctor left.

"What?"

"Oh Herobrine, if it wasn't for you, this moment would have happened long ago. My body keeps getting weaker as time passes…I don't want to become someone who can't even move being carried around for the rest of my life. I'd just be a bother to you." She nearly fell back, but I caught her, putting my arms around her shoulders to keep her sitting up.

"You'd never be a bother to me, Princess!" I said quickly, pausing when she didn't answer. I shook her lightly, seeing if she was still awake. She barely moved her eyes to look at me, her hand weakly wiping a tear from my face.

"I-I know I wouldn't b-be, my prince. Don't cry for me, just…smile."

"For you my princess, anything." I gave her the brightest smile I could muster as she drifted to sleep. I hugged her tightly, my ear against her chest, listening to her heart slow. I laid her back on the bed when her heart grew silent, leaving to get the doctor. I didn't let that smile fade, causing me to get in trouble at her funeral the next day. It only started to falter when they started to bury the urn that held her ashes. I kept my hand around the locket Lenia had given me, filled with some ashes I had snuck away. My brother put an arm around me, a sad tone in his voice.

"It's alright Herobrine, you'll see her again someday." He said quietly, making it even harder to keep the smile on my face as tears fell. I closed my eyes, teleporting away from him. It probably scared him, he didn't know I could do that. I reappeared in a forest and walked the familiar path that no mobs roamed, towards the flowers. Over the years, the foliage above the area had made this place darker and darker, making the flowers bloom even during the day at times. I walked past the bunches of flowers until I reached the large patch of them near the back of the clearing. I dug a small hole in the middle of the cluster, placing the locket in the ground. I made a quartz cross out of some materials I had stolen from the carpenter and put it in the ground right above where I placed the locket. Only then did the smile completely fall away.

-END OF THE SECOND FLASHBACK-

"Herobrine? Brother? Are you alright?" My brother asked, waving his hand in front of my face, snapping me back into reality. That memory probably lasted a second, but it felt like hours. I looked around, finally realizing why I knew a path through this forest.

"I just remembered something…" I answered as I turned, running down the path. Everyone followed me, confused, but I didn't have time to explain. It would to just be easier to explain when they saw. It didn't take long until I came across the familiar dark canopy. I stopped running. The clearing was now not only patches of flowers, but it looked like a sea, tightly packed with them. I carefully walked through the knee-high plants, stopping when I came across the quartz cross, chipped from age. I fell to my knees before it. Mitch was the first to get to the clearing, followed soon after by everyone.

"Where are we?" My brother asked, reaching out to touch the old quartz.

"The same place I teleported to every year since my dear princess died…not counting the last thousand." I explained. "Heh, I probably wouldn't have remembered if you didn't bring her up." I felt horrible, even though I didn't realize it, I had broken my promise to her. "My princess never wanted me to forget about her or the magic she taught me; not only did I forget, but I also used that gift of hers as a weapon to kill." I glanced around at the sea of flowers. Usually, they were fragile, but the path we took through them didn't harm them in any way. "I would always bring her here, you know. I teleported this far on accident, and it became her favorite place to go. I stole some of her ashes to bury here because she asked me to." I looked back at her grave.

"You stole her ashes? Is that what you were doing?" Notch asked, and I nodded.

"She was my world; do you think I'd say no? She loved these flowers so much,"

"It nearly sounds like you loved her," Mitch said sadly, and I shrugged.

"I was only eight, so I don't know. Probably?" We sat there in silence until a bracelet around my brother's hand started to glow and beep. He grumbled under his breath. He stood, lifting his wrist up to his face, and pressed some sort of button.

"What?" He asked.

"King Notch! Finally! We could not figure this thing out. Where are you, you just disappeared!?" Someone sounded frantic on the other end.

"I had a little family reunion. I'll be right there." He pressed the button again, just as the confused voice of person started again. "I have to go, as he said, I kind of disappeared. The council is most definitely panicking." He held out one of his hands in front of him, summoning a necklace to fall onto it. He held it out to me. It was a golden necklace with a smooth quartz stone in the center. "This is enchanted. It allows me to detect where you are. If your magic or aura levels get too low, it'll alert me, and you can call for me as well. I made this as a prototype, as an attempt to prevent more casualties in the war, but if you accept it, I want you to keep this with you. I know you, you'll no doubt find your way to get into trouble, and frankly, I don't feel as much power coming from you as before." I nodded, accepting the gift.

"I'll keep this with me. I know you as well, and you'll probably teleport to me every five seconds if I didn't take it, to make sure I was alright." I joked with him, putting on the necklace. Brother said goodbye to everyone and left in a flash of light. I looked back at the quartz cross, before turning to return to my friends.

"Are you sure you want to leave now?" Sky asked, "If you want to wait longer, we'll wait with you." I shook my head, smiling.

"I'm fine. Besides, my princess wouldn't want me crying over her grave for too long. And I have to patch this up before I lose too much blood." I had nearly forgotten about my arm, which was dripping black blood onto the flowers. Before we left, I looked back at the patch of flowers, giving my princess' grave one last smile before turning to catch up with everyone.

Howdy! This is the rewritten chapter. I apologize for the looooong amount of time I've been absent. My laptop broke late last year. I had five rewritten chapter ready to be uploaded the next day, and I didn't think to back up any files. The hardrive of my laptop had what they called 'The Rattle of Death.' There was no saving what was on there. The reason why It been so long is that I thought what was rewritten was perfect, but of course, I couldn't remember what I wrote. So, after rewriting this chapter about ten more times, I'm going to upload it before I rewrite it again. I hope you all like the chapter and have a great day!

ArashiKitsune, to answer your question, Yes, I am Krystal_Hamilton on Wattpad. It's my real name. I'm sorry for any confusion there may be. But thank you for telling me.