The Deal
It was quiet.
Much too quiet for the Nether, as Nuka noticed.
The constant crackling of the burning blocks had stopped and the constant bubbling of the lava was no longer here too.
Even the heat was gone.
Am I dead? he asked himself, but then why do I still feel pain?
With a faint groan, he opened his eyes and quickly realized that his surroundings looked nothing like the ether or the place where he had collapsed.
Instead, he seemed to be in a large, windowless, vaulted room with a few pillars around him, built entirely of Nether bricks and dimly lit by a few torches.
Uncertainly, Nuka continued to look around, always afraid of suddenly discovering something or someone behind one of the pillers, but seemed to be completely alone.
What is this place? He asked himself as he continued to survey his surroundings. And how did I get here?
Nuka groaned weakly and tried to move a bit when he suddenly heard a strange clang.
Confused, he looked around and was startled to find that he had apparently been tied to one of the pillars, so he couldn't move!
Panic seized him and he immediately tried to break free of his bonds, but this only led to the fact that the pain, which had only tormented him subliminally so far, now returned with full force and made him immediately regret this action.
Okay, let's not try that again, he thought weakly as he contorted his face in pain, trying to calm his breathing and racing heart as his thoughts raced.
He had never been captured before, but he knew now that this was an experience he could have done without.
And not only because he was now helplessly at the mercy of the person, but also because he didn't know what he was going to do with him.
He knew only one thing it could be definitely nothing good!
But who has captured me? he asked himself as he looked around fearfully, remembering the person with the white eyes he had seen just before he fainted.
Nuka felt sick with fear when he thought of her.
No! It can't be! he said sternly to himself as he shook his head, hoping to get rid of these dark thoughts. I...I must have imagined it! This is the only way! If...if it was really him...then...then I wouldn't be alive already...
At that moment he heard a voice.
"Ah, it looks like we're awake again."
Nuka froze.
Who was that?
Immediately, he looked around anxiously in all directions, but he couldn't see anyone, which only made him more nervous.
He would have liked to use his powers and just disappear, but he couldn't move his hands because of the chains and he was still too weak for teleportation.
Who...who is there?" he finally said in a weak trembling voice, whereupon he heard only a short mocking laugh.
"Can't you guess?"
A moment later he heard a teleporting sound, whereupon he hastily looked around, but again could find nothing, so he turned his gaze forward again and cringed in shock when he spotted a person standing a few blocks in front of him, arms folded, looking at him with a wary gaze.
It was a man, perhaps in his twenties, with dark brown, tousled hair and fair skin.
He wore blue pants and a turquoise T-shirt, but it wasn't all that caught Nuka's attention!
It was his eyes!
They were bright white and seemed to have no pupils.
So he hadn't imagined them...
Nuka swallowed hard and he felt himself start to tremble slightly in fear as he looked at the man that all of Minecraftia feared.
,,Oh my gosh...You...you are Herobrine..!" he whispered in shock, to which the man only snorted in contempt.
"Oh, no, what makes you think that?!" he replied sarcastically, to which Nuka ducked his head in shock.
He hadn't expected such an answer.
"And you?"
"What?" asked Nuka in confusion, to which Herobrine only sighed in annoyance.
"Your name!" he asked sharply, causing Nuka to wince again before he could answer.
"Nu-Nuka Price." he answered quickly, as he eyed Herobrine anxiously.
He was so done for.
But why wasn't he already dead?
As far as he knew, this one didn't usually take prisoners, did he?
"Ah, he can talk normally too," Herobrine replied before taking another step towards Nuka and kneeling down in front of him, with a strange curiosity like a cat at its new toy, which only made Nuka more nervous.
"Why... why didn't you kill me like the others?" he dared to ask, pressing himself against the pillar and eyeing Herobrine fearfully, "I...I'm no use to you, am I? Or...or do you want my...my bounty?"
Herobrine snorted contemptuously.
"Oh, please," he replied snidely, looking at Nuka with a grim expression, "I don't care about your measly bounty. No, the only reason you're still alive is because of your powers."
Nuka just looked at him in surprise.
"M-my powers?" he repeated in surprise, to which Herobrine nodded.
"Yes," he replied simply, "They are...surprisingly unique and could be of use to me, which is why I want to offer you a deal."
Nuka raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard that.
Had he just understood that correctly?
"A-a deal?" he repeated, with an incredulous but curious look on his face on Herobrine, who nodded again.
"Yeah, exactly," he replied in a slightly annoyed voice, "So what is?"
Nuka just looked at him uncertainly but also astonished.
It wasn't often that Herobrine let someone live, especially not to make a deal with them, but should he really accept it?
Nuka pondered.
"If I agree to this deal," he thought aloud, looking at Herobrine with a still slightly uncertain look, "what's in it for me?"
Herobrine grinned wickedly when he heard that.
,,Ah, he's not stupid," he replied, "Very well, if you accept my deal, I'll give you a place to stay and security in return," he replied in a surprisingly calm voice.
Nuka thought again.
Now the offer had become tempting, very tempting considering Nuka hadn't had a home in over 5 years, let alone a sense of security.
It would be a great feeling to be able to fall asleep in a real bed, without fear of the coming morning, Nuka thought wistfully.
But he wasn't convinced yet, because there was one more question he hadn't asked.
"And if I don`t agree?" he asked slowly, at which Herobrine's face darkened.
"Then," he said quietly, "there is no reason for me to let you live any longer."
As if in confirmation, a few small white-blue flashes appeared and danced around Herobrine's hand, whereupon Nuka swallowed again and he felt his heart begin to race once more.
Now he was sure that Herobrine would kill him without hesitation if he didn't cooperate.
So the decision was relatively easy.
Meanwhile Herobrine had lowered his hand again, from which the small flashes had now disappeared, and looked at him again with the same grim, suspicious gaze with which he had been staring at Nuka all along.
"So how do you decide?" he asked impatiently, to which Nuka winced again before sighing and finally nodding.
"Okay," he said quietly before raising his head and looking at Herobrine with a surrendering gaze, "I-I'll take your deal."
"Good call," Herobrine replied with a satisfied grin before standing up and, to his surprise, actually unchaining Nuka, "Come on then."
With these words he turned away from Nuka and told him to stand up, which he tried to do, but immediately regretted it, because as soon as he moved he felt pain again, which is why he couldn't sit up.
Nukas Heart raised again, once more!
He knew that Herobrine was waiting for him all the time, so he better get up quickly or he would eventually become too impatient and maybe kill him!
Shortly thereafter, Nuka heard only an annoyed sigh and shortly thereafter a few quick steps, so he closed his eyes and prepared for the worst!
But instead of killing him or hurting him, he only felt someone grab him tightly by the arm and teleport with him.
Nuka gasped in fright as he was torn into the bottomless darkness and a moment later felt solid ground beneath him again.
The teleportation had given him a bit of a headache, and his stomach didn't seem to like the unexpected trip either, but that didn't stop Nuka from opening his eyes and looking around the new place.
The room in which Herobrine had brought was relatively small and was with in also otherwise in its equipment relatively simple and bare.
Except for a red double bed, an empty shelf, a closet in the corner and a desk with a chair, there seemed to be nothing in this room.
Above the bed and the desk there was a large window, made of glass, but with dark bars on the outside.
,,Wait here!" he heard Herobrine say in a harsch voice a moment later, before he disappeared into nothingness and Nuka relaxed a bit before making another attempt to stand up.
He had just managed to sit up and lean exhaustedly against the Bed when Herobrine appeared out of nowhere, now holding in his hand a bottle with a strange liquid.
,,Here, take it," he said , before holding it out to Nuka, who hesitated for a moment before accepting it and examining it with an uncertain look.
He could tell it was a potion, but he had no idea what kind.
"You can drink it," he heard Herobrine say a moment later in a slightly mocking voice, "It's just a healing potion. Believe me, if I were planning to kill you, I wouldn't resort to something as shabby as poison."
Nuka looked at him doubtfully, our whether he should believe this statement, but finally he uncorked the bottle and drank a small sip.
It tasted of nothing, but soon, he felt a warm sensation spread to the place where the arrows had hit him and Nuka felt the pain disappear.
A moment later, he finished the bottle and straightened up before turning his gaze back to Herobrine, who was again standing with his arms crossed and looking at him with a grim expression.
,,This is your room," he explained to him a second later, "I don't care what you do in here as long as you don't break anything! I will instruct my guards to leave you alone, but don't you dare set foot outside the castle or you will bitterly regret it, understand?"
,,And I wouldn't do teleportation if I were you," he continued with a satisfied smile, "I would be dead before even finding a portal, trust me."
"So there's no point in thinking about escape anymore." Herobrine continued in a cold voice, while Nuka was still staring at the bracelet.
,,But don't worry," he continued in a calmer voice, "if you don't make any trouble and do what I say, nothing will happen to you, understand?"
Nuka nodded quickly when he heard that.
"Understood." He muttered, to which Herobrine just nodded darkly.
"You better do!" he replied, before disappearing into nothing, leaving nothing but purple particles behind.
Nuka looked at the spot where he had disappeared for a moment before sighing in relief and dropping onto the bed.
The mattress was hard and the bedding a little dusty, but Nuka felt like he had never lain on anything softer.
He closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment of peace and for the first time in a long time he relaxed.
This was one of the most hidden and strange days he had ever experienced. That was for sure.
He sighed.
What did he gotten himself into?
This deal with Herobrine was perhaps the riskiest thing he had ever done in his life, but maybe being here wasn't so bad after all.
At least here he was safe from his pursuers and no longer being chased around, even if he was dealing with someone much more dangerous than they were.
Nuka sighed deeply before opening his eyes again and looking up at the ceiling above him, which was made of net bricks like all the other walls here.
He didn't know much about his man, as most of the time people avoided saying his name for fear that he might hear it.
The only thing he knew was from his mother, who once told him about the dark god that haunts towns and villages at night, leaving them in nothing nothing but ashes.
But unlike Nuka, he did not kill out of necessity to stay alive, but for other reasons he did not know.
And when he had asked his mother about it, she had only sighed and told him that there were many theories about it and that she would tell him about them someday.
Nuka swallowed hard when he thought about that and he felt tears welling up inside him, but he hastily wiped them away.
He did not want to think about it now!
Instead, he turned to the side and looked at the golden bracelet with a dull gaze, while he thought about what had happened in Herobrine's life so seriously that he was now living here, in a castle in the Nether.
Alone.
Far away from everyone else.
Maybe it had something to do with Steve and Notch, the other two gods of Minecraftia? Nuka thought, before closing his eyes and enjoying the peace and quiet around him.
Well, it's not important to think about that, he thought as he slowly drifted off to sleep Right now I have more important things to worry about.
But he could thought about this more, he fell asleep completely.