A/N: Hey, Ender here. I would like to thank Guest AxleMC131 for reviewing this week. On with the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Minecraft
When I reached the end of my journey through the portal, it took me a moment to figure out where I was. Then I remembered that I had used Herobrine's portal and not the one that I had created, to return to this realm. I traveled down the passage that connected Herobrine's portal room to the rest of his castle.
At the end of the passage, I was momentarily stopped by the closed door of the secret passage. I ran my hands down the wall nest to the blockage, searching for a button or lever that would open the passageway.
At last, I touched a raised section on the wall, and I pushed on it. I heard a click as the button was pushed and the wall before me slid aside, revealing the corridor of Herobrine's castle.
I was walking through the long, winding, corridors of Herobrine's castle, when I heard light footsteps and the rustling of wings coming from behind me. I spun around. Behind me stood my brother Notch.
"I have heard that you were working with Herobrine" he said.
"So what?" I said "Is is now a crime to spend time with members of your family? If so, then I am breaking the same rule by being here with you."
"It is seen as an unwise pastime to spend your time with those who have been banished" said Notch, ignoring my attempt at a joke "People will begin to suspect that you are turning traitor to the realm that you now call home"
"You are one to talk" I said quietly. Notch glared at me, and his eyes shifted from their usual crystal blue color to a grayish-red hue.
"Watch what you say" he hissed "I have more power than you could ever imagine. My lord has told me of the things that you know, and every day I must think harder in order to find a reason that I should keep you around. As of now, the only one that I have been able to find is that if I rid myself of your meddlesome ways, Steve will eventually find out, and I will lose my way to easy control over that realm."
I felt anger, hot and fiery rising within me. "You may speak badly of me" I said "And allow me to make what I will of it, but do not speak out against Steve. He has done nothing to deserve any hardship from you. He has helped you at the expense of his own happiness. Leave him out of this conflict, and keep the struggle between us."
"I could do that" said Notch "But my lord has plans you see, and they do not merely include your defeat, but rather include the full domination of all the realms this universe has yet produced. Therefore, I will agree to no such deal. A time will come when he must either bow to my lord or fall under his might. The same will come of you, though your opportunities for joining us grow less with every passing day."
"I shall keep that in mind" I said, turning away from Notch. "Now I must be on my way. I have been gone for many days, and have many things that I must attend to." I walked away from Notch, doing my best to keep a calm expression on my face. My inner thoughts were in turmoil though. I had not thought that the chaos lord had such a strong hold over Notch. Before, I had thought that I would be able to reason with him, to show him that he was wrong to follow the chaos lord's way and that only darkness for all could come about from following that path. Now I saw the truth. The horrible, accursed truth that there was nothing I could do to save my brother from the fate that he had brought upon himself. He had passed the point of no return. What has really convinced me of this had been his eyes. Before all of this, they had always been so full of life. Even in the first days, when the chaos lord's power could be seen affecting his decisions, his eyes still held the spark of freedom. Now, his eyes held no life. They showed that Notch's will had been defeated, and the hope of freeing him lost. I also had not known that the only reason that Notch had not yet dealt with me was that he wanted to keep Steve as an unsuspecting observer to the growing conflict between me and Notch. I had known that there was some secret reason that Notch had not confronted me directly, but I had never guesses that a simple thing like Steve's loyalty to members of his family was what was keeping me from being quietly eliminated.
I was so deep in my thoughts, that I was startled when I came to the doors leading out of Herobrine's castle. The bright light of the Overworld sun dazzled my eyes, for they had become accustomed to the dimmer light of torches and lava while I was away. I decided to walk to my fortress, in order to prolong the task which I dreaded yet secretly wished for. This overland route led me past few towns, and so I hoped that I would not be found by Steve. This hope was in vain, for not long after passing a third Crafter settlement, Steve came running through the fields behind me, struggling to keep up with my rapid pace.
"Hey slow down" he said "Anyone would think that you were trying to avoid me, running at such a pace. And why would you ever try to avoid me?"
"Oh I do not know" I said "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the last time we talked, you accused me of using you and Notch to achieve my own dastardly plans."
"Oh are you still mad about that?" asked Steve "Sure I was mad, but I got over it and you will too. I guess that it must take longer for you to get over things like that."
"Sure" I said, not really paying attention to what Steve was saying "I am in a bit of a hurry, so if you excuse me, I will be on my way."
"I am not stopping you from going anywhere" said Steve "In fact, the more that I follow you, the faster that you try to go. I wonder why that is. Anyway, where are you heading so fast?"
"I am going to my fortress" I said, hoping that Steve would go away if I answered his questions.
"Cool" said Steve "Have you seen Notch? He promised that we would do something today, but first I have to find him so that I can figure out what we are going to do."
"I saw him at Herobrine's castle" I said "He was there when I got back from the Nether"
"Oh is that where you have been" said Steve "I thought you were at your base studying spells or something. That does explain why I have not seen you in a while."
"I suppose" I said "Now go off and find Notch"
"Got it" said Steve cheerily "Well it has been nice talking to you" With that, he raced off in the direction that we had been traveling from. I continued on my way to my fortress, which could be seen just on the edge of the horizon.
When at last I reached my fortress, I hesitated just outside the door. If I entered, there would be no turning back. If I left and never returned, there would be little chance of anyone finding out. However, I would also have been following the rules set into place by Notch in his fallen state. Without hesitation, I entered into my fortress, knowing that I had just faced the point of no return, just as Notch had. I hoped that my choice would have a better result than Notch's. I walked along one of the corridors of my fortress, searching for a secret door I had thought that I would never use again.
After I found it, I opened it and a tunnel was revealed. At its end, a room could be seen. I entered the room, and looked at the four by four construction with no corners that sat in the center of the room.
"I never thought that i would have enough courage to come back here" I said to myself "Especially after what happened with Herobrine"
I looked at one of the blocks that made up the frame of the construction, and saw that the eye embedded into its top had closed. In fact, all the eyes had closed, causing the portal mist to dissolve into nothingness. The portal that I had never though that I would make. But the magic had tempted me, and now I had to face the consequences for using it. I pulled out a small sliver of obsidian and cut a small slice down my arm. I then poured water from a bottle that I had kept from my time with Herobrine onto the cut. I felt the water drawing my magic from me, painfully weakening me. I focused on the sight of the crystal clear water mixing with the purplish liquid that was my blood to distract myself from the pain. I then let the mixture drip down onto one of the closed eyes, knowing even as I did so that this would not keep it open long. I turned to the next eye, to wake it with the mixture, then saw that it had already opened.
Surprised, I stared at the few orange flakes that surrounded it. It seemed that the bits of blaze powder that I had picked up from my encounter with Zyrix were capable of keeping the eyes awake. Carefully, I collected the rest of the dust and sprinkled a bit of it onto each eye.
When they all were open, a sheet of darkness filled the empty space between them, dappled with sparkles that resembled the stars of the sky. The sight of the portal caused the dark power that dwelled within me to rise. I struggled to subdue it, to keep in control of myself. Every time I remade the portal, the darkness grew stronger. I knew that someday the others would find my secret and, like Herobrine, I would be cast out, cursed by my brother. But the greatest damage had already been done. My actions had changed me, and it would not be long before I had to shift my form to one that could contain my dark self. For unlike Herobrine, my curse was buried deep within me, and I tried every day to keep the ones I loved from finding out my secret. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps in the corridor that led to this room, and I knew that my days of hiding were over. The time had come to accept the consequences of my decision.
A/N: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, please consider leaving a review. Your feedback is always appreciated, and I read every review that I get. See you all next chapter. Bye :)