CHRONICLE

BOOK ONE: LYDIA

PART ONE: OUT OF THE GOLDEN CITY

Chapter Six: Laskig

Years passed with few events in the diary. Lydia grew to be an accomplished ranger, earning her badge at eighteen like her mother before her. Hanna grew quickly too, becoming the beauty of the family and the envy of the street, with six different boys vying for her attention at any given time by the time she turned twelve. But, having inherited her mother's cool, collected nature, she politely ignored every one of them. She had little interest in boys.

The plot of the rogue god grew more insidious, now that he had the tools of the Endermen at his disposal. He maneuvered them carefully, making them fast friends with Herobrine as they had been in the past before the Shadow took them over, and Herobrine responded extremely well for his plots, willingly forging friendships on his own. The rogue used all of his power to separate Notch and Herobrine and prevent either of them from detecting the presence of the Shadow, but he could not keep them apart forever. Eventually they would meet again, and he had to ensure that they met on his terms.

Small skirmishes took place between man and Endermen. Hermits were killed on the fringes of the frontier. Property was destroyed. Materials and tools went missing here and there, never enough to notice. And far away in the mountains, a monstrous device was being forged to take down the gods.

All of which went on below the notice of Herobrine.

Eventually, the rogue deemed it time. Notch had declared a meeting be held in the Aether, and the rogue decided to deliver the invite himself.

Herobrine was actually occupied at the time, discussing small matters with the Council of Luminara. Relations had improved a little as time passed, with tensions easing as people began to take a more objective view of the events of the past. They were seated in the official Council chamber within Kingshall, around a dark, polished wooden table in a room lit luxuriously by chandeliers and magnificently high windows. Herobrine was just standing up to speak when a dark shape began to materialize above the table.

Dark skin covered by darker armor took shape and became solid, coming to a rest atop the table. A black-haired head looked up at Herobrine, glowing red eyes opening to regard the younger Creator.

"Well met, Laskig," Herobrine said warily, fishing the lesser god's name out of his memory of the Aether hierarchy. "Pray tell, for what reason have you interrupted the Council?"

"A gathering has been declared between the gods," Laskig replied. "I come on behalf of the Mighty Notch to deliver this message: Your presence is required immediately at the gathering. There are matters that must be discussed." Herobrine narrowed his eyes. He detected a trace of gloating on Laskig's handsome face, and that struck as discordant with his instincts. But the feeling was vague and he shook off his unease quickly, nodding curtly to the lesser god.

"I thank you for delivering this summons to me," Herobrine said. "I will come so soon as my duties here allow. My brother will understand." He deliberately said my brother casually, to remind Laskig of his position. Laskig bowed, vanishing from the table.

The council members exchanged nervous glances. Abruptly, the Council leader stood, looking Herobrine in the eye.

"Our business here can wait," he said quickly. "Your duties among the gods are surely more important than the petty matters we are discussing here. We will adjourn for now."

Herobrine nodded and bowed farewell.

"Thank you," he murmured as he began to teleport, his body momentarily misting out of existence.

Herobrine felt himself rise sharply, his spirit following the call of the more powerful being, his brother. A ripple passed through him as he went through the dimensional barrier, his being reshaping itself for the Aether. The process was slower than usual- it had been a long time since he had come home. His work kept him in the Overworld for the majority of his time.

As he re-formed in the Aether, Herobrine allowed himself a moment to take in his surroundings. The land was not solid, instead being a series of floating islands, each filled with gardens or graceful buildings. Creatures flew between the islands, warding off any being not a god. Light beamed down from above, the close sun filling the air with its golden radiance. Everything was clear and sharp, much sharper than the Overworld. The air was thinner here.

Taking a deep breath of the crisp, clear air, Herobrine stepped off his cloud and flew through the air with a thought. He could see the Gathering already- it was on a central island outside of Notch's own place of residence. A circle of trees gave them privacy and kept the various flying creatures at bay, and within the boundary a circle of gods already stood, all awaiting him. Notch stood in the center of the circle, and his face broke in a wide grin when he saw Herobrine flying towards him.

"All are present," Notch said, his voice booming even in the subdued quiet of the garden. "We may begin. Greetings to all. Hail Selene of the Night, hail Laskig of dreams,..." Notch went through the ritual greetings, naming each of the gods in turn, and ending with his brother. "And Hail Herobrine, fellow Creator and God of the Beginning."

"Hail Notch," the others replied when Notch lowered his hand. Herobrine glanced around the circle, seeing the same things he always saw at Gatherings. The circle was ordered from least powerful to most, with the least and the greatest of all the gods standing shoulder-to-shoulder. In this case, it was Notch who stood by the goddess Selene, striding to the empty place between Herobrine and Selene. To Herobrine, it seemed that the more powerful a god became, the less elaborate they dressed. Laskig wore his ornate black-on-black armor, and Huon his elaborate cloak and tunic imitating the human style of kings, but the more powerful Abstergo to the left of Herobrine dressed simply in nondescript black clothing. Notch was dressed the most plainly, wearing his earth-colored garb in vast contrast to Selene to his right in her white feathered gown.

"Let us begin," Notch said, making a wide gesture with his arms. Traditionally, the gods would simply discuss their most pressing troubles. Abstergo, the god of the Void, spoke up first.

"I have sensed malice in the Void as of late," he began in his wispy voice, little accustomed to speaking aloud. His quiet business in the Void seldom called for conversation. Everyone turned towards the dark-skinned, pale-eyed god, and Laskig had to force himself not to shift. It was important that this discussion went in the right direction from here. If it didn't, all his plans could be ruined...

"Of what kind?" Notch asked, his eyes narrowed.

"I cannot tell," Abstergo replied. "It is too far spread. It may be originating from above, as has happened before. The End within my realm is at peace."

Laskig relaxed and internally sighed with relief. They were going just the direction he wanted.

Notch looked to Herobrine.

"Is it?" he asked, his tone simply quizzical, not accusing. Herobrine shook his head.

"Not as far as my rule extends," he replied, "although there are humans I no longer rule. Times are more peaceful now than they have been for some time. The time of riots and warring is, at least for now, over."

"The malice remains," Abstergo insisted quietly. Herobrine sighed.

"If it comes from the Overworld," he resigned, "then I cannot sense it. There is no open malice within my realm, I assure you, but my rule extends to the lands of men, not to their hearts, and not very far into them at that."

"The trees are distressed," Terrae, goddess of the wildlife and growing things of the Overworld, whispered from a few spaces down from Abstergo. "The wilds are unquiet."

"That may not be from men," Herobrine said, knowing everyone was looking sharply at him now. They knew of the things of the night he spoke of. But he knew he had not overstepped his authority in creating them. He had been the initial creator of nearly all life in the Overworld and all the other realms- the others were merely stewards over his creation. Still, he could not ignore how he was being seen now. The other deities could not keep an ambiguous evil ambiguous for long. They would instinctively try to pin it to something- or someone- as soon as they could.

The gods each gave their accounts in turn, each one adding their complaint of a subtle unease or sense of wrongness in their respective realms. Each one also added their suspicions and veiled accusations leading to the Overworld and to Herobrine. It was clear they thought him responsible for something, although they did not know what. They believed it had to do with mankind, and all Herobrine was doing with them.

Then it was Laskig's turn to speak. He had waited for everyone to finish before speaking up, and now he took a step forward.

"I have watched the dreams of Man," he began, "And they are troubled. I send soothing thoughts and good dreams, but I am returned with nightmares. Herobrine," he turned to address Herobrine, a concerned look on his face, "Many are about you."

Everyone around the circle gasped quietly. Each and every one of the gods had been warning Herobrine of small things they may have believed him responsible for, giving him the benefit of the doubt, but this was direct. This was too open. Laskig had all but directly accused a Creator.

Which was the point, after all. Laskig had to carefully hold his features in check to avoid leering gleefully at Herobrine, as Herobrine's own expression darkened. He had made a malicious presence felt all throughout the realms with the new power of the Shadow and the Endermen slaves. The gods would have no cause to feel such a presence, unless there was something directly trying to cause destruction. Not just fire and catastrophe, but the utter destruction of matter and the resurgence of the Void. There were only two ways that could happen: A Void survivor loyal to the old cause, or a traitor within the pantheon of the Aether. Laskig was leading them to take the bait that Herobrine, and not the Shadow, was at fault.

Herobrine was taken aback by Laskig's words as well, but he was not surprised. He distinctly felt, once again, that something was directly working against him. Hardening his gaze at the god of dreams, he mentally filed him away for a little quiet investigation if he found the time.

"I see." Herobrine said. For some time, he did not speak, instead simply standing with his hands steepled in thought. Then he stepped forward, his hand half-raised in a gesture for silence. No one moved as he prepared to speak.

"I, too, have been troubled," he began. "Though things are peaceful among my people, it is commonly known that this has not been the case for much of the past decade. I will not deceive you- you have all seen the unrest of the past." He paused then, watching the reactions of the others around the circle.

"I tell you now that there is a subtle evil in the Overworld that even I am unable to locate. Your suspicions are the same as mine, but what it means, I do not know." Everyone stared and many shifted uncomfortably at his words. They did nothing to drive of the suspicions of the other gods, but what else could be said? Herobrine trusted that none of them would act irrationally.

"Herobrine." Notch's voice was soft, but commanding. Herobrine turned, and his brother gestured with his eyes to the palace looming over the garden. Herobrine nodded, understanding what he meant.

"The Gathering will now take a brief reprieve," Notch said to the rest of the circle. "Let us rest now, and consider that which has been said, and that which remains to be discussed." The other members bowed and slowly separated, going off to the private corners of the garden individually or in small groups.

Herobrine and Notch took to the air together and flew between the columns of the palace, passing through the open, airy throne room built in shining white stone and moving up the hollow center of a tower, landing softly on the floor of a small, closed-off observatory with floor-to-ceiling windows. There was a table in the center of the room, with two chairs. Notch and Herobrine sat opposite to one another, just as they had a thousand times in the past. They came here whenever they needed to speak of private matters away from the ears of all other beings.

"You worry me," Notch said. "Terrible things have been happening among mankind, and for all that this...malice... is spread, it seems to be concentrated in your realm. Even you cannot say why it is." Herobrine nodded, exhaling slowly. He hadn't realized it, but he had tensed up during the Gathering as the subtle accusations piled up. With a deliberate effort, he forced himself to relax. Give me a reason to believe you aren't responsible, his brother was really saying.

"You are right," Herobrine sighed. "I cannot. Can you?" Notch shook his head.

"Even I cannot locate the source, but regardless of what it is, it is strong, and it does not want to be found. Your actions have compounded the problem, brother, whatever it may be. Even now, it is not resolved."

"I know," Herobrine replied. "But I have made some improvements. Notch, I should have been able to figure this out by now if it were simply a problem among mankind, but I still find myself asking every day where this evil could have come from. There is more than meets the eye."

"So it has come to this," Notch said with a heavy sigh. "A faceless evil none can identify. What do you think?"

"I think we have a traitor," Herobrine replied, and Notch slammed a fist down on the table.

"What!"

"Hear me out first," Herobrine said quickly, raising both his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Where did mankind first learn to be wicked as so many are now? They are modeled after us. It should be against their very nature. Then there is another point- I should not have so much trouble pinpointing any source of evil, no matter how great or how insignificant. There are too many cases, too suddenly, and it is too widespread. I cannot shake the feeling that something or someone is working against us. I haven't felt this since the time Before."

Notch sat back to consider this. Herobrine's words made sense- but the idea of a traitor put him ill at ease. He remembered the days Before, too, when creation was still in its infancy and the violent warfare between the two sides of developing consciousness, the spirits of Matter and Void, was still going strong. The quiet Abstergo was the only remaining spirit of the Void from that time, having switched sides in return for keeping what remained of the emptiness of the Void. The rest had been scattered and broken up beyond the ability to regather. He thought then of the worst that could happen- a recollection of the malevolent gods of the Void, and a traitor on his own side, and quickly dashed the thought aside. He had destroyed the evil of the Void completely. It could not return.

And yet- the traitor. Herobrine's reasoning could not be denied. Still, Notch hoped that it was a traitor to something other than the temptation of the power of the Void.

"Why do you think this is?" Notch wondered aloud, trying to consider now the tactics of a hypothetical traitor. "What would motivate a god to teach sin to man?" Herobrine slowly shook his head.

"I think the first question we should be asking is who they are motivated against," he said. "There can be no doubt that there is a godly force behind the evil, else I or you would have found it, but who do they ultimately intend to harm? Mankind? Or us?"

"And why..." Notch trailed off, deep in thought. The two words summed up all he was going to say, after all. Why? Why would this be done?

In the back of Notch's mind, there was another disturbing possibility, one whispered to him by the other gods, that this evil was linked to Herobrine. Herobrine had shouted aloud many times to the wilderness how much he rued many of the decisions made by Notch, namely his gifts to mankind that closed their hearts and minds to their creator forever and incidentally gave him alone the power to read their thoughts. Herobrine had been the one to turn the tide of the wars Before using his incredible powers of deception, with enough skill to fool even Notch. Could he be using this power now?

Notch found this possibility even worse, but he didn't dare consider it any longer than he had to. It wasn't likely, after all.

"We must reconvene," Notch eventually warned, watching the play of the sunbeams on the floor. Herobrine nodded.

"They may be getting impatient now." Herobrine resigned. "Listen- I have the beginnings of a plan to find out just what this evil is, but I will need time, and most of all trust. Can you do this for me?" Notch nodded as he stood from his seat.

"You have my word, brother."

The brothers returned to the garden, and all of the gods returned to their circle one by one. There was not much left to be said, with the discomfited atmosphere still hanging heavy from earlier. It was unusually quiet when Notch finally gave the traditional farewell, and the gods began to filter away.

"I will get to the bottom of this, upon my immortal soul," Herobrine swore to the other gods. Laskig bowed farewell, and watched him go and descend back to the Overworld, keeping his smile hidden all the way.

Everything was going as planned.

"Oh, Herobrine," Laskig murmured to himself when no one else could hear, finally allowing a wicked grin to spread across his features. "Herobrine, you fool."

Hello again, readers. Apologies once again for the late updates, mostly due to my busy schedule. As of the time of this chapter's publication, I have just finished a grueling week of rehearsal and performance with my school chorus, and this upcoming week will be just as busy with exam-taking and panicked cramming.

And writing.

This chapter I found to be a little harder than I expected, but hey, it turned out all right. I hope you don't mind my dialogue- I understand most of you out there (as far as I know) prefer my action scenes and fights. (I'll get to those. Hold tight.)

One thing I would like to announce: The official beginning of the Ender Wars is near. Very near. I'll let you know when it comes. (I also understand that most of you out there have been dying to know WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED during the Ender Wars.)

If you enjoyed this content, leave a REVIEW. If you hated it,... still leave one. Let me know how I'm doing, and what you would like to see. How much do you want me to explain? (I know I just added a million new questions to your list...) If you would like to see more where this came from, leave a LIKE and a FOLLOW, and I will see you next week!