"Only by two minutes." Was Steven's muttered response.

"Wait, brother?" Olivia echoed, turning her head back in Hero's direction. "I thought you said you didn't have any family."

"I don't." Hero snapped. Ouch. "Come on." He started to tug her back in the direction of the inn.

"Whoa, wait." Olivia protested. "If he's your brother, why-?"

"That's a long story." He cut her off.

"Then tell me! And for Notch's sake stop dragging me!"

"Hero, stop." Steven's voice had a pleading note to it, and his brother reluctantly obeyed. "This isn't a safe area of town. Come stay the night with me."

"Absolutely not."

"For miss Olivia's sake." He continued. "You know this isn't a safe place, and this inn is notoriously bad. You left her for a moment, and she was almost killed. Even if you refuse, let me take her to a safe place."

"I like how you assume I trust you."

"Hero." Olivia broke in, letting her exhaustion seep out into her voice. "You said yourself there were some suspicious people in the inn. I really don't want to get murdered." Hero huffed, but didn't protest, hesitating for a moment.

"Very well." He said at last. "Lead the way."

"Alright." She could hear the relief in Steven's voice. "Follow me." He started to retreat, and Hero moved Olivia's hand to his arm as he started to follow.

They made their way through the streets for about 15 minutes, Olivia noticing the hubbub of the city decreasing steadily as they went. The stones underneath her became stone bricks at some point, which was slightly easier on her aching, bandaged feet.

Eventually, they turned and climbed a small staircase to a building, into which Steven directed them. His house. It was built out of wood, and a bit cramped, but enough to house him well enough.

And a wife.

A woman's voice greeted them as they entered, Steven immediately taking her aside to talk to her. Olivia caught the words "my brother" as Hero herded her over to a couch, sitting down and holding her close to his side. Despite him saving her, and the comforting aura he gave off, Olivia was starting to pick up on his suspicion towards his brother.

"I'm Alex." The woman introduced herself, and Olivia lifted her head as she crossed the room towards them. "Can I offer you something to eat?" She hesitated for a moment, but Hero didn't respond, so she answered,

"Something to drink, please."

"Of course." Alex stepped away, and the blind girl tilted her head towards Hero.

"Is there a good reason I shouldn't trust him?" She asked in a hushed whisper. "He did save my life."

"You're like me." Was his quiet response. "Trust is more than he deserves."

"That's cryptic." Alex approached again, guiding a glass of water into Olivia's hand. She accepted it with a nod.

"We don't have a lot of room," Steven's wife told them, "But you're welcome to sleep on the couch, and I can bring some pillows and blankets down for you."

"Thank you." Olivia responded meekly. While her tendency was to refuse what she perceived as pity, she was still shaken from being attacked, and kindness from a stranger was more than she'd grown to expect in the past week or so. As she sipped from the glass, she noticed a lack of Steven's footsteps or voice. Where was he?

"Did you know he was here?" She murmured as Alex walked away again.

"In this city? Yes, but I didn't think we'd run into him." He shifted, getting to his feet. "You sleep on the couch, I'll sleep on the floor here."

"Okay." Curling up to warm her feet underneath her, Olivia drank the rest of the water before lowering her head to the arm of the couch. Footsteps approached, and a blanket was laid over her body.

"Steve and I will be upstairs." Alex told them. "If you need something, yell, okay?" Olivia nodded, curling up into the blanket.

"Goodnight, Herobrine." Hero only grunted, and she closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep before the minute was up.

W⍑| ᔑ∷ᒷ ||𝙹 ∷ リリ╎リ⊣ ⎓∷𝙹ᒲ ᒲᒷ?

Olivia startled awake.

Gasping, she pushed herself upright, momentarily not sure where she was.

"I'm sorry." A whisper reached her ears, and her head jerked around. "Did I wake you up?"

"Huh?" She managed, and the voice hushed her.

"Hero's still asleep." It was then that she placed the voice- Steven. The crackle of flame accompanied his voice, a candle.

"Not sure." She whispered. "What time is it?"

"Late. I came down to check on you two." She could hear the wince in his voice. "Sorry I woke you."

"I don't think it was you." She admitted. "I've been having odd dreams."

"Oh." His voice was a bit more relieved. "I'll leave you alone." He only made it a step before she interrupted.

"Wait." He halted. "Can I ask you about… Herobrine?"

"Oh, I- suppose." A shuffle as he took a step closer. "Here, let's move away from him a bit. I don't want to wake him." She nodded, pushing the blanket off of her, and Steven's hand found hers. Carefully, he led her away from Hero's motionless body, across the room to the staircase. "What did you want to know?" He whispered, sinking down onto one of the steps and pulling her gently down beside him.

"Why he hates you so much, to start." It came out a bit bluntly, and she hesitated before going on. "You… had entirely different reactions to one another."

"That would be my fault." Steven released her hand, letting out a soft chuckle. "Um… let me start from the beginning."

"Okay." Leaning back on her hands, Olivia closed her eyes.

"Hero and I are twins. He's the older twin, and he always made sure I knew that." He laughed again, but it was sad. "He was born with blank eyes, like yours. As I mentioned, people around here are superstitious. Given your appearance, I'm guessing you've heard the legends…?"

"I don't think so." She whispered back. "My mother's always told to keep my eyes covered - the bandits stole my blindfold - but she didn't tell me why."

"That's… oh." He hesitated, then began. "There are stories about an entity, one that goes by many names, who is reborn in a child whenever it dies. Said child is always born with blank eyes. The creature is supposed to have some longstanding rivalry with another immortal, and with every life tries to kill it. Humans are always caught in the crossfire.

"I've heard a few stories of children with blank eyes who were killed at birth, to avoid any risk of the creature growing up there. Herobrine was lucky compared to them, he survived - obviously - but his upbringing was… harsh." His voice lowered. "He was treated poorly by everyone, even our parents. I loved him, he was my brother, so I tried my best to stick up for him. He always tried to protect me. He was a good kid." He gave another stilted chuckle. "If only I hadn't ruined it.

"Being my brother's best friend meant that no one else would give me a second glance. When we turned fourteen, he grew… angry. He hated the world, he hated everyone around him, and he started to take his anger out on me. He was never violent, just… easily upset. I got tired of this pretty quickly. I'd longed for other friends for years, and now that I was a young, emotional teen, I decided I was fed up. So I gave up on him.

"If that was the worst of it, maybe he could've forgiven me. But I went one step further. I was cruel to him to gain the trust of others my age, joined the mobs of kids who would hurl insults and spit in his direction." Steven's voice had dwindled to a miserable whisper with every admittance, obviously ashamed of what he'd done. "Called him a monster."

Olivia stayed quiet, playing back what Hero had told her about his brother.

"When we were seventeen, he was cast out of the city." He continued at last. "Tension had been building for our entire lives, and finally the other shoe dropped. First it was formal, a notice sent to him to inform him that he was no longer welcome here, then they chased him out with weapons when he refused to leave. At this point, I knew I'd screwed up, but he refused to have anything to do with me. One day he was there, then the next he was gone.

"Today was the first time I've seen him since then." A wistful tone entered his voice. "I suppose he's spent the last eight years dwelling on what I've done, while I spent them wishing I'd stuck by him."

"Oh." Olivia whispered. "Poor guy."

"Yeah."

"Has there… been anything like that here again? Did his presence leave a lasting effect on the city?"

"Other than the babies I mentioned who were killed, I don't think so." His voice saddened again. "I grew up, got a job, and got married. I don't think anyone really remembered who I was once Hero was gone."

"Does your wife hate him?"

"No. I don't think so." He amended. "I've told her about him before, told her what happened to him. I think she pities him."

"That's a step in the right direction, at least." Steven hummed his acknowledgement, and their conversation dwindled into silence. "I have one more question." She broke it, before it could get too heavy. "Where did his name come from? His name is… very strange compared to yours."

"I suppose." Steven chuckled. "'Hero' is what they hoped he would be. My parents, that is. But every misbehavior they would attribute to the entity, and they grew to be as cruel to him as everyone else. And 'Brine'- it's one of the more common names the entity goes by."

"Oh." She hesitated for a moment. "I suppose that's why he never told me his full name, then."

"He hates it." Steven replied softly. "Or, at least, he did when I was younger. People would hurl his name at him like an insult, He wanted to be a hero, so badly, but the world got to him over time. I wish I could've done something. Notch, I still wish I could. But… at this point, I at least can do nothing." Olivia gave a small nod.

"Oh."

"He seems to trust you, though." There was a questioning note to his voice, and she nodded again.

"He started talking to me because I was blind, I couldn't see his eyes. When my city was attacked, and I was kidnapped, he saved me."

"You-" There was a startle in his voice, which he quickly lowered back to a whisper. "That's terrible. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. We're gonna rescue the rest of my people." She nodded towards where Hero slept. "The leader of the undead is some kind of demigod, and we're trying to find his weakness. We're going to go back and kill him."

"I wish you the best of luck." There was a smile in his voice, and she smiled back.

"I should let you go back to bed."

"I- right, here." He took her hand again, leading her carefully back to the couch. "I'm sorry for keeping you up. Goodnight, Olivia." He gave her hand a squeeze, then retreated, his footsteps growing quieter as he ascended the stairs.

Olivia lay awake for a long time, staring up at the ceiling with sightless eyes until the darkness claimed her once more.