He closed his eyes and concentrated. If he didn't get to her, then there was no chance of redeeming himself. He didn't want to think about the fate that awaited him if he failed.
Her mind's defenses shattered, and he plunged in. The surface of her mind lay spread before him like a gigantic canvas. It stretched on for hundreds of meters in all directions, the words and images that appeared on it mutating constantly. He took a deep breath, and began to etch words into the canvas, whispering them as he did so. "Aradyn, go back home."
The canvas turned pure black for a split second as she panicked. Who are you? was the first thought that solidified into words. Of course she didn't recognize his voice. He couldn't infuse any emotion—any color—into his words, and he realized that that would be all the more frightening. A mind-invading robot was what Aradyn must be hearing.
He couldn't afford to get into a conversation with her, though; each word he wrote drained him further. "You need to go to Jason. Get him in control of himself."
What's going on? Get out of my head. Her alarm was condensing into anger.
"If you don't get to Jason, people will die. Go to Jason. Help him. Do what it takes."
At this, the second mention of Jason's name, Aradyn's mind turned a rainbow of colors. The most prominent one was a deep pink blush. I can't help him. And why do you care? What do you want?
His strength gave out suddenly, sending him staggering. "You have to, Aradyn." Then he was flying away from her mind, back into the pain of his own.
Seto opened his eyes just in time to see the ground rising in front of him. He threw out his hands and caught himself before his nose connected with the stone floor. "Shit," he said, quietly so that the valkyrie guards didn't hear. They didn't approve of cursing; none of the angel types did.
He was dead, of course, but that didn't seem to have affected his abilities. Notch had forbidden him from using magic to attack the creatures of the Aether in any way, blocked his invisibility, and stopped him from communicating with any being of the Nether; fortunately, Notch did not even consider that Herobrine had forces in the End. The Aether god was too confident in his own strength to fear the power of his brother.
He should be afraid of his brother. Herobrine was preparing to attack the Overworld. Seto had tried to explain this at his hearing, but the valkyries had only laughed. They'd been sure that he was making it up in the vain hope of escaping his punishment.
He had to admit, he'd considered trying to bargain his way free. An eternity in the Nether, with Herobrine paying him special attention, would not be pleasant. In fact, it would go significantly beyond the realm of 'not pleasant,' and into the jurisdiction of 'nightmarish.' He would be tortured for longer than he'd lived, and eventually become a mindless servant of Herobrine.
It was the mindlessness that scared him the most. Seto clenched his hands and took a deep breath. To lose the ability to think, to become only a puppet, to be something that every sane human feared—
But he already was that last part. He was a sorcerer, or at least he had been. He didn't know what he was anymore. In life, strangers had been terrified of him and of his powers. Then he'd turned to Herobrine, and even his friends had feared him. He'd become what everyone said he was: a monster.
All the Aether seemed to believe he was a monster, too. When he'd stepped on the scale for them to weigh his soul, the whole room had seemed to go silent. A fifty-pound soul was enough for a hearing, to determine whether he was condemned to the Nether or not. A two hundred-pound soul meant he'd probably be going there. A three hundred-pound soul was a guaranteed trip down, and only one in a million souls was that heavy with the weight of misdeeds.
Seto's soul weighed two hundred ninety-three pounds and fourteen ounces.
There were two things that were particularly heavy. Joining Herobrine cost him one hundred eleven pounds, and torturing Mitch was eighty-nine pounds and ten ounces. If he undid those things, then he'd have a chance. He had to undo them.
As it was, he was being sent to the Nether. He'd be there in… in a while.
The middle elevator came to a shrieking halt in front of him. Seto crouched back against the wall, as hundreds of souls did the same. The valkyries pulled away a dozen people and forced them into the tiny capsule, ignoring their pleas for mercy. The door of the elevator locked, and then they were hurtling down, down, down.
There were three massive redstone elevators, each constantly moving from Aether to Nether. The trip was so long that the same elevator might load only twice in an hour. Seto wasn't precisely sure why Notch had neglected to build more, or make them faster, but he wasn't about to complain. He'd not been sent down yet, after all.
The valkyries had tried to push him to the front of the line, but he'd managed to work his way backwards. He couldn't afford to be sent down yet. He had to escape, had to redeem himself. He could fix things for himself, if he could only escape. That would be the tricky part.
Souls tried to escape on an hourly basis. The valkyries caught them quickly, and threw them into the next available elevator car. Running didn't work; the winged warriors were ridiculously fast. The valkyries were impossible to fight: their spells allowed them to paralyze any disobedient soul. Hiding from them was difficult, since they were on such high alert here. What choice did he have, though? He'd have to run for it.
What he needed to do was get to the Respawn portal. He'd seen it, when he'd first arrived. It sat next to Notch's throne in the center of the courtroom, where his hearing had been. If he got there, then he could make it back to the End. Then he could destroy Herobrine.
After a quick exploration of Ty's mind, he'd discovered that there was a chance of killing the Nether god. If Aradyn got Jason back to his senses, he'd attack Herobrine for sure. She might join him. Seto bit his lip. Then there was a chance that they—Ty, Jason, Aradyn, and Seto—could defeat Herobrine and his allies. If he managed that, then surely he'd be redeemed.
If he failed, he'd be no worse off. Seto took a deep breath, even though he didn't exactly need the air anymore. The only thing in his way was his fear, and he had to get over that. He looked up at the lone window, which stood twenty or so feet off the ground. The air outside was dark; night had fallen. This was his chance. He had to take it.
A valkyrie with long blonde hair fluttered near him, inspecting. Her massive white wings beat down strongly, sending cool air rushing into his face. Seto avoided eye contact as she searched the crowd of souls, probably trying to find a likely candidate for the next elevator. "You," she called, pointing at someone behind him. Seto moved aside to let the poor soul through.
There was no one behind him.
His legs suddenly became as effective at being legs as cooked noodles would be. "Me?" he whispered, his voice shaking.
"You," the valkyrie laughed. For her being an angel, she seemed to enjoy this part of her job too much.
This was not how it was supposed to go. "You don't… you can't… I—"
Her voice turned as steely and cold as her blue eyes. "Are you going to try and fight me?"
He couldn't fight her, obviously. "There… there must be some sort of mistake." Seto's mouth was so dry he could hardly speak; he swallowed hard. "You don't want me."
"Nonsense. Notch has specifically summoned you. I recommend that you comply." The valkyrie tilted her head. "You don't want me to tell him you resisted."
Notch… had summoned him? That was different. Tentatively, Seto took a step towards the valkyrie. She led the way through the throng of souls, taking his hand and pulling him along.
Notch was waiting on his quartz throne. It was the same courtroom where his hearing had been, the same place where the Aether god had pronounced his sentence. Seto felt dizzy as the valkyrie led him to the foot of the throne. "Kneel," she hissed, pushing him so hard between the shoulder blades that he fell.
The whole room was quartz, except for the blue carpets. The furniture was quartz accented with gold. The ceiling was at least twenty meters above his head, and a massive skylight revealed the stars. Seto couldn't stop from looking around. The first time, he hadn't been able to process how huge the place was. The Respawn portal glowed green beside Notch's throne, a hoop of gold encircling a pool of emerald light.
"Beautiful, isn't it? The portal?"
Notch's voice made Seto shiver. He sounded so much like his brother. "I… I suppose so."
The Aether god laughed. "What kind of answer is that?"
"I don't know." Seto looked at Notch, and met his eyes.
While Herobrine's eyes were solid white, Notch's were a warm brown. He had a kindly, smiling face, while his brother's face was cold and haughty. Notch looked calm, whereas Herobrine looked like TNT ready to explode. The only real similarity between the two gods was in their voices; both sounded like commanders. "I don't know, either." Notch waved a hand. "You're a puzzle, Seto. Do you know why you're here?"
"I'm here because you summoned me."
Notch smiled slightly. "You're here because you've been planning to escape." His eyes darkened, though the smile stayed on his lips. "You know that there is no escaping your fate. Your crimes deserve punishment."
Somehow, Notch knew he would try to escape. He was caught. He was trapped. Seto's stomach was curling, but he kept his voice level. "Then why am I not already on an elevator?"
"Are you wishing for one? It could be arranged, if you try to deceive me. Keep that in mind." Notch smiled again. "You joined my brother."
"Yes."
"You tortured for him." There was no malice in Notch's tone, only a faint sadness.
Seto bit his lip. "You know that. Yes."
"You enjoyed it." Notch watched him, expressionless.
"No," he denied quickly. The god's eyes narrowed, and Seto amended. "Not all of it. Some, yes, but not… everything."
Notch nodded. "And are you contending that you should not be punished for this?
He didn't know how to answer that. Yes, he'd done bad things, but he'd suffered for them already. How was any more punishment fair? Seto studied the floor.
"I need an answer, Seto."
He looked up again. "I… I need another chance. I can redeem myself. I need to go back."
"That is not a reason for me to make an exception. We both know that you should be punished for what you've done. I already gave the order for you to be sent to the Nether." Notch seemed to take a sudden interest in the arm of his throne; he examined it closely, scratching at its surface. "I'm giving you the opportunity to convince me to take that order back, and return you to life. Very few get to be in your situation. Now speak."
Okay. "I was forced to do what I did," Seto started. "I was tortured by Herobrine until I had to give up. He still kept hurting me after that. He liked hurting me. I couldn't do anything but what he told me to do. I had no choice. I only liked hurting Mitch because he'd hurt me before. He always yelled at me, and he was mean to me, and he made me feel bad, all the time."
"I'm not a bad person," Seto continued. "Herobrine just made me do bad things. How could I fight him then? I didn't know how, and there was no one to help me!" Seto felt indignant tears burning at his eyes. "I can show you that I don't deserve to be punished. That's why I should go back."
Notch had not looked up once. "Unfortunately, you're wrong." There was no accusation in his tone, only a kind of melancholy.
He wasn't sure he'd heard right. "What?"
"Those are not reasons for you to go back to life." The god sighed. "I'd hoped that you might make this worth my time, but I suppose we can't always get what we want. Seto, I'm sorry." Notch dismissed him with a flick of his hand. "Get him on the next elevator down. I don't want there to be a chance of him escaping."
The valkyrie grabbed Seto by the arm, a smile on her face. He couldn't bring himself to fight back as she dragged him from the room.
How had he miscalculated? All hope of escape had failed him, and then—worse—he'd been unable to persuade Notch of his worthiness. The Aether god was cruel, and foolish. Seto shuddered in rage. He didn't deserve this. It wasn't fair. It wasn't his fault that any of this had happened; he couldn't have controlled any of it.
Or could he have? That was a thought. Maybe, maybe he could have done something. Maybe—
"Wait!" Seto called, digging his heels into the carpeting. The valkyrie tried to drag him again, but he twisted out of her grasp and ran back towards Notch's throne. "Please, listen to me."
Notch frowned at him. "I don't want to hear any more excuses."
The valkyrie grabbed for him. Seto dropped to the ground, just under her hands. "It's not another excuse, I promise."
"You have thirty seconds."
Seto swallowed hard. "I… everything I did was wrong. Herobrine tortured me, but I could still have said no to joining him. I could have refused to hurt people. I could have found a way to help… to help at least one person get away from him. I could have done something, but I didn't. I need you to let me—I'm begging you to let me—go back so I can at least do one good thing." As he spoke the words, he realized they were true. It was bitter to admit it, but it felt good.
That was the real reason he needed to go back: guilt.
The god went silent for a long time. Seto waited, fighting the impulse to panic. Finally, Notch spoke. "Go. Don't make me regret this. Make sure that I never see you in this room again."
Seto wasted no time and immediately dove through the portal. The thought of what Herobrine's face would look like when he appeared back from the dead and blasted his head off made him smile.
Oh snap.
Sorry about the wait, but this chappie was on the long side and I needed to plan out the ending. Yeah. The ending. You read that right (unless you're seeing something besides 'ending,' in which case I can't help you). We're almost done with this thing! Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed for their time and patience, and for supporting me and my writing :D
Also, DaniRandom480 did a piece of fanart off this story that absolutely made my day :3 Here's the link; just take out the spaces:
s:/ deviantart art/Fanart-596388531
DFTBA, and peace out! RUN FROM THE PINK RABBITS!
SOTC: "Bring Me To Life," by Evanescence.