i am spoiling you all tonight lol
"The kingdom of Preosan has already fallen, so they will be little to no hope against Orion." Notch spoke, punctuated by the soft crinkle of the map he was presumably referencing. "Ikaisal, last I heard, has been untouched. The Phoenix Kingdom took a heavy hit from Orion's attack, but their forces held off the majority of the damage. Kvett, as of yet, does not know that Orion is here- if he still is."
"He was gone when I came back to my senses." Hero muttered. "I know not if he still resides here. If he does, it will not be anywhere near where we found him."
"He has a fantastic appearance, it will be difficult for him to hide." Olivia's mother broke in. "Notch, do you have any allies or informants in this city?"
"Whether I wish them to or not, I have plenty of people willing to update me on any suspicious going-ons." Notch confirmed. "I will put out the word of his residence in this city and wait to see if anyone has seen him."
"In the meantime, should you contact the king of Kvett and speak with him about an alliance?" Hero asked.
"I will try. As I've mentioned, leadership and I tend to not get along. Perhaps, though, the seriousness of his situation will motivate him to action." Beside Notch, Olivia leaned against the wall, silent. She hadn't told anyone about her conversation with Brine, not yet. Though, she might never tell them. She wasn't sure they really needed to know.
"And the other kings?" Her mom spoke up again. "Am I correct that you just need a moment to fight Orion yourself?"
"Something like that. If I can only find his weak point, I should be able to kill him." Notch sighed, and the map crinkled again. "Perhaps you and Brine could distract him?"
"He's never fought me directly, not that I can recall." Hero mused. "He's always sent his minions after me. If they're busy, he'll most likely flee. He doesn't seem to have that much fighting prowess of his own."
"Indeed. We will have to be ready to intercept him."
"Are we still planning on using me as bait?" Olivia interrupted quietly.
"We never-" Hero began, but Notch cut him off.
"We will be keeping a close eye on you, should Orion go for you, yes." Their guardian assured her. "But, given the revelation that you are not Brine, I should think - and hope - you will be in less danger."
"Ah…" Olivia murmured as her mom squeezed her shoulder.
"I, for one, am very glad of that."
"Me too." Hero cut in. Olivia only sighed and tucked her blanket around herself.
Their small meeting wrapped up not long after, Notch leaving to go and try to gain an audience with the local king. Olivia's mom went to go buy supplies, while Hero stayed to guard Olivia in the temple. The latter was quiet as she was left alone with him, and it wasn't long before Hero commented on it.
"How are you feeling?" He asked softly from where he sat beside her.
"Achey." She responded morosely. Hero didn't respond for a moment.
"Is that all that bothers you?" He asked at last, tone blunt. "You aren't ordinarily this quiet."
"Well I'm not ordinarily in this situation, am I?" She shot back irritably. "Or- well, I guess I am, more and more. Injured and helpless to defend myself."
"Sorry." Hero muttered as he shifted, and Olivia gritted her teeth. She didn't mean to offend him, she was just… there was too much going on.
"Heard you found Orion." She offered a weak attempt at conversation.
"Mm." Hero affirmed. "He tried to kill me. Brine helped me escape."
"He did?" Olivia tilted her chin up at him. "Did you… what do you mean? Can you talk to him, or-?"
"Not really. I could…" he shifted again. "Feel him coming, I supposed, then I don't remember anything more before waking up to the chapel on fire." Olivia wrinkled up her nose.
"…he just destroyed the battlegrounds?"
"I suppose. It was all but falling apart already."
"Are you okay?"
"I was sore, but I've recovered by now." Hero heaved a sigh. "I wish I… could've helped more."
"When Orion captured me, were you in control then? Or was it him?"
"It was him." Herobrine confirmed. "For a moment, anyway, long enough for him to attack Orion. He gave me back control once he had driven him away."
"Oh." Olivia shifted, rubbing her legs. They tingled from sitting in a cross-legged position for so long.
Should she tell him? On one hand, he sort of had a right to know, since Brine was living in his body rent-free. But would it only stress him out more to know that Brine was willing and capable of speaking and moving while his host slept?
"…turns out you were right." She offered quietly after a few moments. A pause.
"Right? About what?"
"My eyes." To think about it made her heart sink again. "Turns out I was taken away by cultists of some sort or another when I was little, and they blinded me. My mom convinced them that that would keep Brine from manifesting in me, and that it was preferable to just…" She shrugged. "Tossing me into the river to drown." Hero was silent for a long time.
"I've never been so sorry to be right." His hand rested on hers, squeezing her hand a bit, and she had to choke back a lump in her throat.
"It doesn't matter, what's done is done." She managed.
"I wish it wasn't." He huffed. "At least with me, they were right about me. You were… you're innocent."
"So are you," Olivia countered. "You didn't choose to have Brine in you. And he didn't even manifest until… like four days ago?"
"Still." Hero didn't remove his hand from hers. "At least we have Notch now. He can help."
"Yeah…" Olivia gave a small nod. "On one hand, I'm… glad the pressure isn't on me anymore. As if I could do anything in the first place." She muttered. "But on the other hand, I don't… know what to do now."
"Stay here where it's safe?" Hero suggested. "Orion's minions can't enter this temple, I overheard them saying so. Orion himself, I'm not sure, but I don't see why he would put himself in danger by going to his enemy's base of operations. He seems to prefer sending the undead to do his dirty work."
"That's probably the wisest choice." Though she agreed, the concept made her feel discontent. It was probably self-centered to think of this adventure as having started with her, but… it kinda did. And even if Orion no longer cared about her since he knew she wasn't Brine, she still cared about seeing him brought down. Figuratively.
"Well…" She continued at last. "I guess you don't have the luxury of staying here."
"Of course not." Hero heaved a sigh. "Even if I wanted to, I'm sure Brine would just force his will and go whether I like it or not."
"Mm." Olivia gave a small nod. "So… I guess he'll have to beat him this time."
"As opposed to every other time, how?"
"This time I'd lose you." Hero was silent, then squeezed her hand again.
"Guess I'll win then."
"You'd better."