I'm back and actually ahead of schedule for once... WHEN DOES THAT HAPPEN? Ok :) well it's good news for me at any rate. Also *hands everyone a price of cake* its the 25th chapter :) so this is officially the longest fan fiction I have ever written. YEAH :D

"Steve?" Maria questions and walks over to her friends side, "are you ok? You've been staring into the wall for a while now..." The girl follows the boys gaze and frowns when she sees nothing out of the ordinary. With a sigh, she taps him on the shoulder and yells out, "what the Nether are you doing?"The boy instantly flips around in surprise, and finds himself staring into the girls confused, emerald green eyes. He glances back toward the wall and replies,"Sorry, I thought that I saw something over there..."

"There's nothing there," Maria adds, slightly annoyed. "Come on, let's get back to training, ok?"

"Right," Steve replies,following his friend after taking one last glance at the wall. "Am I imagining things?"

A hand shoots for the back of the boys throat, with a strangling cry of alarm he tries to free himself. "Maybe now you'll pay attention,"Maria says with smirk, releasing his throat. "If that had been an enemy, you would be dead already."

"That was a little harsh," Steve growls unhappily, rubbing his throat. "What sort of enemy is going to strangle me anyways? Wouldn't it be better to just kill me with a sword anyways?"

Maria frowns at the comment and zones out for a moment before replying, "You'd be surprised..."

"Oh," Steve mutters quietly. For a few moments everything is quiet before he breaks the silence. "So umm... if someone is strangling you, what's the best way to defend yourself?"

"Well there's to old fashioned way," Maria answers, grateful for the distraction. "You kick your attacker as quickly as you can before losing to much air."

"That doesn't sound like it works much," Steve replies and lifts an eyebrow in doubt. "Anything else you can do?"

Maria nods silently and adds,"Along the side of the neck leading up to the ear is the carotid artery. It's the main supply of blood to the brain, and a sudden, well placed blow can momentarily send the person's brain into shock. This is only momentary, but it will work on just about anyone... even demi gods."

"Momentarily?" Steve questions, "so I would have to hit the artery and then use the pause to escape?"

"Exactly,"Maria responds with a smile. "Actually striking the artery hard enough could lead to shock or knocking the person out, but in your case it would probably only be a momentary brain failure."

"Ok, if I ever get strangled I know what to do," Steve adds with a slight mocking tone. "Good to know. Now, can I learn something I might actually use someday?"

"If your so sure of yourself why don't you duel me?" Maria growls with a slight smirk, "if you want to disrespect my teachings so quickly you must already know all there is to learn."

"I didn't mean it like that," Steve apologizes quickly. "Sorry, it's just that I can't imagine myself dying by being strangled."

"Trust me, it's more likely then you think," Maria sighs and pulls her obsidian blades from her belt. "I was serious about the duel though. It's pretty clear that you aren't getting much out of fighting the practice dummies, and it would be good for you to experience real combat. Just till the other is disarmed though, we don't need to injure ourselves with this war looming overhead."

"Umm right," Steve replies and draws his own iron sword from his belt. 'This isn't really a fair duel, it's two blades against one...'

Two black swords swerve for the boys neck, and he barely has time to recognize it as an attack before being thrown backwards onto the ground. "I told you to pay attention Steve," Maria growls calmly. "Losing focus in battle will only get you killed..."

The boy swings his foot out and manages to knock one of the obsidian blades against the wall. He stands up with a burst of energy, narrowly missing a swipe from Maria's remaining blade, and taunting, "You should take your own advice then. Criticizing me just lost you a sword."

"True," Maria adds, lunging forward and swinging the blade towards the iron sword. Steve narrowly blocks and ducks to evade a blow to the head. Turning to the side the girl carefully walks around the human carefully timing a finishing strike. "This isn't really a duel though, I'm just showing you how much you need to learn."

Steve carefully waits for her next attack, following his opponents every movement. There's a brown blur as the girl lunges forward at the boy. He raises his sword to block, but something seems familiar. 'I have seen this before... somewhere. This is only practice, but I get the feeling I've been in this exact situation before. If that true... what happened then? I guess I better try something a little different then blocking.'He sidesteps, causing Maria to land awkwardly on the ground, slightly stunned by the sudden evasion move.

'Now my chance.' Dropping to the floor, he carefully knocks Maria's foot out from under her. Unable to respond, she falls backward and Steve knocks the blade from her hands with a powerful swing. Grabbing ahold of the obsidian sword, he stands up and adds, "really, because I'm pretty sure I just won."

Maria looks up for a moment, the shock fairly evident on her face. After a few moments, she pushes herself onto her feet and stands up. Pain shoots up her leg and she grimaces at the sharp sting. Steve immediately glances at her and asks," Did you injure your foot again? I'm sorry Maria, I knew that you were still injured, I shouldn't have aimed for your foot. Do you need me to get the healer?"

"I'll be fine," Maria grumbles stubbornly, and kneels down to inspect her injured foot. "It was basically healed anyways, and I thought I'd be fine with a little battle practice. I wasn't expecting you to win though."

"Just luck I guess," he answers with a shrug. "What else could it be." Before Maria can reply the door slams open as a teenager with fiery red hair storms into the training room. Tyler looks on unhappily, his usual cloak has been replaced by a basic red shirt and black jeans. Two obsidian swords, much like his sister hang from his belt, and a pair of black goggle are tied around his forehead.

"Hey sis, hey Steve," Tyler states, his earlier frown becoming an unconditional smile. "You guys are training to I see."

"Hey Tyler, where have you been?" Maria replies casually and continues to rub her ankle, "weren't you getting cake or something?"

"I was for a while," Tyler responds and sighs a little. "The cafeteria staff threw me out because apparently sugar is bad for you. So after eating a whole cake they decided it would be best if I explored the fortress instead."

"Harsh, but I've seen you on sugar and we really don't need to deal with that right now," Maria adds with a smirk, thinking about the memory from her past. "Do you know what the others are doing?"

"Apricot and Brandon are still in the cafeteria, Sky and those other two are talking about something down in the airplane hanger," Tyler replies casually. "Z and R are talking to Notch about something, and Herobrine is right behind you."

"Herobrine is...," Maria questions before snapping her head straight backwards. The shadowy demi god appears out of the shadows and walks over towards the group with a deathly silence. "How long have you been here?"

"Sense you began training," Herobrine replies with a yawn. "I wanted to see how the humans training was going."

"When did his training become so important to you?" Maria questions sharply,"don't you have better things to do at the moment?"

"My brother is still trying to figure out how the Shadows were able to reach the Aether," Herobrine replies. "Nothing is really happening right now that demands my attention, so I came to see if the human can actually fight."

"Why would that be important to you?" Tyler questions casually.

"We are at war," Herobrine growls and looks the younger demi god in the eye. "Unfortunately, that makes you my ally until further notice. I also don't understand how a human somehow lived through a nuke blast, and why you were willing to bring him with you to the battle in the first place. If he can actually put up a decent fight, then he may be useful in future battles."

"Well you saw him duel me, I'm sure you have all the info you need now," Maria growls unhappily. "Can you leave now?"

"He beat you," Herobrine states plainly. "How did a normal human beat you? Even in an injured state, it would have been an easy win. Especially for an untrained, new spawn."

"Well... I'm sure there's a perfectly valid answer," Maria begins, her voice trailing off as she searches for an answer.

"I knocked her off balance," Steve answers quickly, ignoring a shocked glance from the siblings. "She thought the battle was over, but I managed to knock her off balance and hit her injured foot. In the end it was really just good luck though."

"Yes, but choosing to evade instead of block was a tactical move, and one of an adept fighter no less," Herobrine mutters thoughtfully. Within a millisecond a blade swings staring for the humans head. Maria gasps in alarm, but is to slow to stop the sudden attack. Steve swerves his own blade to block the blow, stopping the sword only centimeters from his neck. "Your reflexes are higher than normal as well,"Herobrine adds, and sheathes his sword. "Most... unusual..."

"You almost killed him," Maria cries out angrily and shoves Steve behind her. "What the Nether were you thinking?"

"There is no place for the weak in war," Herobrine answers and begins to walk away. "Perhaps your friend will survive a few more battles."

"What we that?" Maria growls as the demi god leaves the room, "he shows up, randomly attacks you, and then just leaves like nothing happened!"

"I think he was testing me," Steve adds carefully. "Something about him seems familiar..."

"You're probably mistaken," Maria states quickly. "I think he was testing you though. Though I can't seem to figure out why it would make sense."

"Well you did survive a nuke explosion without injury, while Maria, who's a Demi god, took a decent amount of damage," Tyler responds thoughtfully. "It's kind of weird don't you think..."

"Yeah I guess so," Maria adds and yawns slightly. The doors to the hallway open again as a man steps into the room. "What now?"

"Notch has called a meeting in the main hallway," Jeb states and walks into the room. "All heroes and demi gods should be in attendance. They're deciding what our next step should be."

"Should Steve come?" Maria questions quickly and glances at her friend, "He's not a hero, but he's still important..."

"No, humans aren't being permitted into the meeting," Jeb replies sympathetically. "Your friend should just get some sleep while he still can."

"Will Z and R be there?" Tyler questions with a glint in his eye, "they're heroes after all."

"Yes, Z and R will be in attendance," Jeb answers and turns to leave. "I need to go fetch Herobrine. The meeting starts in two minutes, you might want to hurry."

"Of course," Maria replies and turns to look at Steve. "You should get some sleep, we might be heading out soon."

"Ok," Steve replies with a yawn. "Good luck at your meeting."

The two demi gods race down the hall, following Jeb, and leave Steve alone in the hallway. He place the iron sword back on the rack and slowly walks out of the room. When he reaches his room at the fortress he quickly opens the door and collapses on the bed. The overwhelming day quickly overtakes the human, and he falls into a calm sleep.

Notch watches carefully as the grand hallway fills with people. A few of the gods had managed to slip out of the Aether before the attack, and those who could make it had quickly assembled at the fort. Some of the remaining heroes had agreed to meet as well, but most had blatantly refused the offer; they had saved Minecraft before, they didn't have the power to do it again. Herobrine sits at the corner of the table a few seats from Notch, and the siblings had wandered in a little earlier. Maria and Tyler sat next to each other a few seats behind Herobrine, and calmly wait for the meeting to begin.

"Everyone here," Jeb states as he walks into the room. "You should begin the meeting soon."

"Right," Notch answers and walks to the head of the table. "Everyone please take a seat."

The group gradually takes a seat at the large oak table and looks around. Z and R sit just across from Maria and Tyler, Sky and some of the other heroes. An older scientist with blonde hair sits down right next to Maria and greets the two siblings with a smile.

"Hello, you must be one of the new heroes," the man states with a smile and reaches out to shake Tyler's hand. "I'm Duncan, on of the scientists from the Yogcast generation. You are?"

"Tyler," the red headed demi god answers and motions to his sister. "And my sister Maria."

"We're not new heroes actually," Maria adds sharply.

"Then why are you here?" Duncan questions curiously, "no offense of course, but i thought that only heroes and gods were invited."

"No, that is true," Maria adds with a slight laugh. "We're the Enderborn family, the three demi gods."

"The Enderborn family..." Duncan mutters in shock and slight horror. "Wait, three of you, I only see two."

"Laura couldn't come," Tyler adds with a sigh. "It isn't safe to bring her into this war anyways."

"We'll you two definitely look like your parents," Duncan adds and shakes his head. "I should have guessed you were from the Enderborn family."

"You knew our parents?" Maria blurts out quickly, "They never spoke about you before... well, when they were alive of course."

"They passed away?" Duncan questions and glances across the table at R and Z, "when was this exactly?"

"About four years ago," Tyler replies with a pointed glare at Z and R. "We were all heartbroken with their passing, but we learned to survive in their absence. Maria and I basically took over the house hold and Laura left to live with some friends up North."

"I see," Duncan adds, following the boys glare to Z and R before sitting down next to the two. "Well it's nice to meet you."

"Ahem," Notch coughs trying to gather the groups attention. "It's time to decide what the next step should be in this war, and what precautions we should take to insure our success."

"We should send a group to gather support among the humans," one of the surviving gods calls out. "It's time they took up arm for the creators and protectors of this world."

"That's a foolish decision," one of the heroes argues. "Most humans are quite unhappy with the gods because of these creeper attacks on their villages. The 'gods' have stops by as out race is being destroyed, why would we lift arms to help you now?"

"It's true," Duncan agrees. "Most humans have stopped supporting the gods ages ago. It would be unlikely that they would be willing to help us in turn."

"Let's try and take care of this ourselves," another person adds. "Bringing the humans into this will only cause more problems."

"You're forgetting the amount of Shadows were up against," Jeb growls. "For every one of us there is almost a dozen of them. If we want to win we will need the humans support."

"The humans won't help," another god argues. "There to busy with their own problems to worry about us."

"The only reason 'we humans' have these problems is because you stood by while the creepers blew apart most of our population," a hero screams in disgust. "There is no reason for us to help you."

"Then why are you even here then?" Screams someone else, as voices start to flood the hall.

"Silence," growls a voice beside Notch. When the arguing continues, Herobrine stands up and focuses on the grand banquet table. The whole thing suddenly lights into a fiery inferno, the arguing turns to screams of fear and dead silence. "There, perhaps next time you will listen."

"Thanks brother," Notch mutters with a sigh if relief," You all have a fair point, but in order to win this war we will need the humans support. So I'm going to send a group to ask the king of Minecraftia for help."

"You'll have a better shot at ending this war with friendship then getting his support," Duncan growls.

"Yes, and that's why I will be sending my brother," Notch adds quickly. "In fact it would be quicker to simply send all of the demi gods."

"Your doing what?" Z calls out in shock, "why would you send all of the demi gods on the same mission."

"The humans need to understand that we aren't weak," Jeb adds. "By sending three demi gods we send the message that we're still quite powerful."

Notch glances at Herobrine and asks, "do you have any objections."

"I'm more than capable of doing this alone," Herobrine argues grudgingly and sighs. "If you insist..."

"What about you two?" Notch asks, turning his focus to the demi god siblings, "any objections?"

"We're willing to go," Maria answers, and quickly adds, "But only if Steve will be coming with us."

"I guess that can be arranged," Jeb says and shoots Notch an uneasy glance. "Ok, the four of you will set up for the capitol of Minecraft in the morning."

Maria nods slightly and shoots Tyler an uneasy glance. The red headed teen nods slightly and shakes his head in preparation. "What did we just get ourselves into?" Maria mutters quietly and shakes her head slightly, "this isn't going to end well..."

This is Sparta! Oh wait wrong document, this isn't history class... Anywho XD next chapter will be fairly interesting, because you have Steve, Herobrine, Maria, and Tyler stuck traveling together for at least a week. Anyone spot the problem :) Also Fate won't be making an appearance for a while, but she will be back... she just has to do some things before she returns. Trust me, you'll know when she's back. It isn't going to be the opposite of subtle.