Chapter 11
Running Back To Notch
Steve's heart seemed to stop and his legs gave in, his butt slamming into the stone floor painfully.
He read the two-worded sign over and over, as if expecting there to be more. He just didn't understand. He didn't understand how this was possible. For one, Herobrine didn't even know that he was here and two, Herobrine wouldn't have the time to do something like this anyway because he was with Steve like an hour ago.
So now Steve had multiple mysteries on his hands...the disappearance of redstone torch trail and this reply on the Nether portal sign. My lord...I don't know how much more of this spooky stuff I'm going to be able to take...
Notch. I have to speak with him. I can't stand this World any longer. I can't go another night without having my questions answered.
Steve pulled up his World menu and exited the World without thinking twice, his mind racing. He was so sick and tired of living in anxiousness and fear. He just wanted someone with wisdom and insight to talk to him...someone like Notch, his loving creator.
Steve quickly entered the port and key code for Notch's private World and joined, spawning right in Notch's castle next to his big table they left off at last time.
The miner immediately yelled Notch's name, his voice echoing throughout the humongous castle. There's no way he's here. He must be in town or at a meeting of some sort. There's no way I'm going to be able to reach—
"Steven?"
The human flinched in surprise and looked down the staircase to the upper floor, seeing Notch standing at the bottom of it. Steve shook his head in disbelief and smiled. "Notch? You're here?"
His creator shrugged and grinned, "I guess so. Is something wrong?"
Steve sighed and looked up at the ceiling, giving off an insane sounding giggle. "Oh man...is something wrong? Oh, there are A LOT of things wrong! There are SO MANY THINGS WRONG I CAN'T EVEN COUNT THEM ALL!"
Notch grimaced and quickly made his way up the staircase, putting his hand on Steve's back. "Well if that's the case then I am very glad that you are here with me now and in one piece. Let's sit at the table and you can tell me everything that is going on."
The miner sighed in comfort at Notch's words and warm hand on his back. For the first time in days Steve felt safe once again. He finally felt as if he could sit down and not have to worry about Herobrine sneaking up behind him and dragging him by his neck to the Nether. My god...am I just paranoid? No, this fear is real. It makes sense. He would do that to me. I know he would. He has already hurt me and clearly didn't show any sign of remorse whatsoever.
Notch and Steve sat across from each other on Notch's large, red table. Notch entwined his fingers in front of him and bit his lower lip. "Well, go on. Tell me what is troubling you on that World."
Steve parted his lips, taking a moment to examine Notch's posture and facial expression. Notch looked so...worried. Seeing his creator look that worried about their conversation sent off alarm bells inside Steve's head, freaking him out even more than he already was. I mean, Steve didn't look so good himself. His pupils were small and beady, his fingers fumbling and picking at his skin.
Notch stared at player Steve with wide eyes and quietly murmured, "Steve?"
Steve shot his head up and their eyes connected. Notch watched Steve's abnormal behavior only worsen as he looked into the miner's purple eyes.
"Yea? Hehh heh. I'm...sorry. I'm just taking in the fact that I'm supposed to feel safe now. I haven't felt this safe in a while," Steve panted and grinned, scratching his arm repeatedly.
Notch pursed his lips together and leaned forward shakily, placing his hand on top of Steve's, which was still trying to pick at his tan skin. "Please calm down, you are scaring me." Notch spoke honestly, giving the miner a freaked out glance.
Steve finally relaxed his right hand underneath Notch's warm one and smiled oddly widely. "S-Sorry...Notch, I have so many questions. I-I don't know to ask them all and I don't know where to start, but I will tell you now that I am never going back on that World alone."
"...Why is that?" Notch asked softly, squinting at Steve's face in effort to understand what emotions the miner was feeling.
Player Steve's leg moved up and down repeatedly on the stone floor as Notch slowly drew back his hand from Steve's. "It's not safe there. He wants to kill me. He wants to imprison me in the Nether. He does..."
Notch furrowed his eyebrows. "He...talked to you? He told you this?"
Steve chuckled darkly, his wide eyes flickering all around the table. "Heh YES? WELL, NOT REALLY." The player from Alpha suddenly grew quite tense and his neck pulsed. "I DON'T NEED HIM TO TELL ME HE WANTS TO DO. HE'S SHOWN ME HOW HE FEELS ABOUT MY PRESENCE THERE INSTEAD."
Notch flinched in shock at Steve's sudden outburst, opening his mouth in an attempt to say something comforting to his creation.
"AND YOU." Steve pointed at Notch furiously. "YOU MUST HAVE KNOWN THAT HE WOULD DO THIS. YOU SET ME UP. YOU WANTED ME TO GET CAUGHT! YOU WANTED ME TO GET DRAGGED TO THE NETHER BY MY DAMN ARM."
"STEVE ENOUGH." Notch's voice boomed throughout the castle, making Steve fall silent and lower his pointer finger. Enough so, the young miner's teeth were still clenched and his breathing erratic.
The old creator sighed and pushed one of his hands into his face. "For Nethersake Steven...what is wrong with you? In all of these years you have NEVER spoken to me in that way."
Steve panted and shivered a bit, still staring down Notch as if he was prey.
"What in the Nether happened on that forsaken World? My goodness... Steven, if I wanted to 'set you up' or have you get dragged to the Nether by the demigod, I would NOT have given you a legendary, enchanted weapon to protect yourself." Notch mumbled, his voice a little muffled by his hand.
"But you must have known..." Steve shivered and shook his head in disbelief at his creator. "You must've known what he would do to me! You've been dealing with him your WHOLE LIFE! You used to practically be BROTHERS!"
"Steven that was 10 years ago!" Notch bellowed angrily. "Yes, I do know him. I have known him for a long, long time. But I do NOT SEE or 'HANGOUT' with him on a regular basis! I have absolutely no clue what is going through that mind of his!"
The young miner fell back in his chair and put up a hand to his mouth, trying to stifle his upcoming cries. "W-Well...maybe it's not your fault. Maybe it's just everyone else's fault...maybe it's my fault...for believing in the News of Minecraftia."
Notch's eyebrows drooped and he slowly stood up, walking over to Steve's chair with outstretched arms. "No, no, no, what is this nonsense? Why are you crying, my boy?" He questioned, gently putting an arm around Steve's back to steady his quivering body. "Steve, I need you to tell me what you mean."
The human gave up trying to stop his cries. He let his tears fall, lowering his hand from his face. Steve squinted in pain and told Notch, "Herobrine isn't anything like the Herobrine I see on the News. The Herobrine on the News must be...p-photoshopped? I don't know..."
Notch chuckled and patted Steve's shoulder. "What makes you say that?"
Steve snorted snot back up his nose and stammered, "H-He's skinny and pale and smelly and short and weak. He's not buff...he's not burly. He looked my size except...skinner and paler. H-He was nothing like the pictures of him on the News."
Notch chuckled again and tipped his head, smiling in amusement. "What? Surely you are exaggerating a bit."
Steve gave off a nervous laugh. "No. Actually, I think I'm under-exaggerating."
His creator rubbed Steve's shoulder and furrowed his eyebrows together once more, pressing his lips together. "Well, how about you tell me some more about him...since you remarkably saw him."
Steve swerved his tear-stain face in the direction of Notch. The miner stared into his creator's eyes and whispered, "remarkably? He was very social. The second day I found him punching down trees in front of my house. Then he followed me out of a mine and stood in front of me. He seemed to try to talk and interact with me as much as he possibly could."
Notch stared into Steve's glassy eyes, shaking his head in confusion. "That is...certainly odd behavior from him."
"Notch, he was punching a tree down in front of my house. With his fist. And it took him at least twenty seconds to do so." Steve spoke softly, staring into Notch's eyes intensely.
The old creator tipped his head again at Steve's words, baffled. "Twenty...seconds?"
"Yes. For the whole tree. Maybe it was more."
Notch gave Steve a weird look that the player couldn't read.
"Well, how about you continue." Notch spoke in a dark, low tone.
"Um...okay..." Steve sighed and wiped some of his tears away with the back of his hand. "I want to let you know that on that day he was punching a tree outside my house, he told me to come to the Nether because he had a surprise for me. He got really close to me and I got scared so I threatened him that I'd use your stick on him. It was really weird though because he didn't know what it was...and you specifically told me that he did know what it was. But he didn't at all. It was also weird because at that moment I realized that he was my height and his voice was scratchy, not low or intimidating. He also didn't produce a god-like glow. There were no wisps around his body like the ones around yours, and his eyes had no light in them. They were just...white. No glow at all. Anyway, he finally left me alone and flew up into the trees, saying that he'd come back to get me or something."
Notch swallowed and panted. "Alright, alright. Let me review this here."
"Mhm." Steve confirmed and looked at Notch readily.
"Alright. So you have now told me numerous times that Herobrine does not look like the Herobrine you are familiar with, correct?"
"Yes."
"You told me he was your height and his voice was not low or powerfully loud?"
"Yes."
"And he did not have a particle effect around his body nor were his eyes luminous."
"That's right."
Notch flashed his eyes to the ground and deeply inhaled, rubbing his chin. "Continue, Steven..."
"Okay...so, once he flew away and left me he—"
"So sorry to interrupt but...flew? Explain what you mean by that." Notch blurted.
Steve gave Notch a look. "W-What do you mean? He can fly."
Notch gave Steve an intense stare and slowly shook his head. "No he cannot, Steve."
The player from Alpha looked crazily at Notch, his eyes widening in confusion. "Ummm...I saw him fly."
"Impossible."
"He flew upwards into the trees and walked away from me in the air."
Notch gave Steve a worried look and bit his bottom lip in thought. Seeing Notch so worried and confused made Steve really freaked out.
"Steven, let me just tell you what exactly Herobrine is. Please tell me if any of his behavior you experienced on that World lines up with what I'm saying. Herobrine is a player, just like you. The only major differences between him and the normal player is the fact that he is part monster—yes, he is a monster-human hybrid. After his treacherous death in lava long ago in Alpha mode, he was revived by the Ender dragon and given special abilities in order to remain alive and stable. His pupils are white due to the fact that his eyes were burnt out in the lava when he died. His eyes produce a glow because they are burning hot. To this day, his eyes are still burning. When the Ender Dragon revived his body, she made his skin as cold as ice in order to combat the burning in his head, resulting in his body temperature being utterly perfect and stable. Due to how cold Herobrine's body temperature is, he produces a cold, particle effect that radiates from him about two blocks. You should see a white, steamy and smokey looking wisp come off of him. He dwells in the Nether frequently because it is very hot there. This comforts his body due to how naturally cold he is. He only comes to the Overworld when he is in the mood to cause trouble, I suspect. Herobrine has always had a low voice, even before his death. But now his deep voice is more intensified because of his revival. The Ender Dragon secretly passed on some of her magic into his body during the process of rebirthing him. Some of the powers he exhibits are teleportation—like enderman, sprinting abnormally fast, brute strength, monster communication, levitation but most certainly NOT flying, an extreme amount of health, entity sensitivity, and the most powerful one of all, in my opinion of course, telepathy—also known as mind-reading."
Steve sat there, looking straight in front of him with a brain-fried look on his face. "Notch, that sounds nothing like the Herobrine I met. Y-You must have this all wrong..."
"No Steve. I am not wrong. I have seen and fought Herobrine. I have touched his arm. I have seen the piercing glow his eyes produce. For goodness sake, I used to be his friend. Something more sinister is happening on that World and I must know more."
Player Steve shook his head and laughed in hopelessness. "There's nothing more to be said. Herobrine must've lost all of his powers or something. This...this isn't right. It can't be..."
Notch rubbed Steve's shoulders and asked softly, "How about we talk about the World itself now, alright? Tell me about structures there, if you saw any."
Steve sighed and relaxed a bit as his creator rubbed his shoulders. "Well, I did see a Nether portal in a cave. It was way down deep in a dark ravine. There was also a redstone torch trail leading to it...and there were no monsters on that World...it was weird."
Notch nodded. "Yes, that sounds right. Monsters are afraid of him."
Steve turned his head to look up at Notch. "Really?" He muttered in fascination.
Notch smiled warmly. "Well I mean, isn't everything?"
They both chuckled a bit and Steve nodded shyly. Notch added, "Nether portals deep in caves and redstone torch trails are also normal. You will see many of those if he is truly roaming around on the same World as you. Good."
"Yes well, there was a really old and dusty sign on the side of the Nether portal. I also saw a four by four lava pool by it too. I guessed it was his bathing place..."
Notch laughed a bit and playfully asked, "did you go in?"
Steve blushed and laughed too. "No! But I did dust off the sign and write 'hi' to him."
The creator chuckled again. "I bet he appreciates that. If the sign was that dusty it must have been sitting on the side of his Nether portal for years."
"Really?" Steve murmured in amazement.
"Oh yes. Those structures of his could be at least seven hundred years old."
"W-Why was there a sign on the side of his Nether portal in the first place?" Steve questioned curiously.
Notch shrugged and pushed his lips together firmly, breaking their eye contact. "He is probably lonely."
Steve looked at the ground. "That's...sad."
Notch grit his teeth a little and nodded slightly. "He is."
The miner rocked forward and backward in his chair a bit, getting slightly anxious at how emotional Notch seemed to be getting. He broke the awkwardness by saying, "He didn't seem to remember that he placed that Nether portal there, though. I told him about how I came across it when he captured me and he told me that I was making it up and going crazy. Does Herobrine have bad memory or something? How old is he?"
Notch looked into Steve's eyes and replied, "He's only one year older than you Steven. That does not seem right. That is not like him."
"Oh...really?" Steve questioned, generally surprised. "I always thought he was like, five hundred years older."
"No, you two are very close in age." Notch replied, looking concerned. "He was created only a hundred years before you in Alpha."
"Well...maybe something messed with his memory or something. Also, remember how I told you that I was feeling strong, cold gusts of wind suddenly hit my body at random times during the day? You told me that only hackers and glitched players create those gusts, but I don't think that's true. I think Herobrine can too. When I was on his World, those cold winds hit me at least three times."
"Steve, what I told you was true, only hackers and glitched entities can produce those gusts. Herobrine is neither." Notch said sternly, examining Steve's face in worry.
"W-Well...well..." Steve stammered, not knowing what to say about that.
"I do not understand. Cold, painful winds only occur in the Overworld when a hacker or a glitch is present in the World...and Herobrine is most certainly not a hacker or a glitch. He is as natural as the dirt beneath our feet." Notch stated.
Steve bit his lower lip. "Well...he also grabbed my parrot that I made friends with in the jungle and choked it and beat it to death in front of me. That's when I used your stick to knock him thousands of blocks away. He was going to kill or knock me out next."
It almost looked like Notch flinched when the human told him this. "He...beat your parrot to death?"
Steve's lower lip quivered at the traumatizing memory. "Yes...he did. Right in front of me."
After Steve finished he looked up at Notch, only to freeze in disturbance. Notch's face was pale. Ghostly pale. It was as if the color had been completely drained from his face. Steve looked at him in fright and parted his lips a bit.
"Steven, I am only going to say this once. I need you to believe what I am about to tell you and I need you to do your best to forget everything you have learned about the Herobrine on that World."
Steve opened his mouth but before he could speak, Notch's eyes meet his and his creator mumbled quietly:
"That is not Herobrine."
