Hero's Bane

Chapter 36: Retain Control

Edited 4/21/2022

Steve raised his empty hand up and placed it on his forehead and squeezed at the new pain growing. Like Herobrine; he could see flashes of memories with the sentinel and the forced visions from the hero's influence almost made him black out, but he fought to keep his eyes on the distraught hero for his life was at stake. Passing out now meant that he probably wouldn't be waking back up, not a good thought to dwell on at the moment.

His mind's eye from the hero's point of view; saw the high guardsmen trying to reason with him about the choices he made, he saw the same sentinel in another quick vision trying to persuade the violent being to spare a man's life even though he injured the hero. And at last but not least, he knew the hero was jailed behind thick bars, completely motionless except for his head. Lionel seemed very upset and Steve almost couldn't believe it himself, so was the prison guard right about the killings? He was confused with the thoughts but at least a little light was shedding on Herobrine's past. Herobrine didn't feel as if he was pleased with his crime and this lead the miner to believe more in Lionel than the guard, though he always had a feeling that he should trust his ancestor to begin with.

The old hero seemed so sad and that was something that Steve knew what he felt lying on the floor staring up at Lionel, seeing everything from Herobrine's perspective. So much pain and sorrow hung over him, there was something inside he thought he would never feel in the old hero's place; pure genuine sadness. Though it be a vision, Herobrine was hurt.

Perhaps the killings was one big accident or possibly a crime framed on him? Steve had to consider the fact that there was a lot of evidence against Herobrine, so this accident or intended bloodshed whatever it may be; had happened and many people saw it to report it. Herobrine had killed in cold blood and in plain daylight, that was what the witnesses stated. Unless there was many people conspiring against him?

It only made sense that Herobrine wouldn't be sad if he had the intent of murder and carried it out, so why was he so upset then?

These new found thoughts with the memories made everything confusing for Steve and it really didn't help his headache, but he knew he still had to try and calm the powerful man or fight to the death. He really hoped to sway Herobrine's malevolent plan, except for the part of releasing Nigel, that he still wanted. The miner moved his legs forward towards the hero as he continued to clutch to his head from the painful migraine, the higher being still seemed to be distracted but was just as dangerous as usual. Maybe he was more dangerous in this crazed state? The miner inquired to himself.

He watched as Herobrine squeezed his head tighter and swing it back and forth with quick yanks, almost as if he was trying to fight away at his memories. Steve couldn't see any more flashes of the being's history but the pain was definitely still there, he removed his hand from his forehead and steadily approached the raging figure. The miner was cautious while holding the enchanted blade tightly, he was also extremely nervous and fearful but he couldn't show a weak approach. He had to be direct and brave no matter how much danger he was about to put himself through.

…

Herobrine had saw the miner wincing from pain and right then and there he knew his thoughts had been momentarily exposed, his weakness was shamefully shown. He mentally cursed his own power, but it wouldn't matter for the man before him was going to die soon anyways. The hero concentrated deeply on moving his focus away from his past, but every time he did a new memory would just appear in his mind, he shouldn't be out of control like this. Why was he loosing control? He snapped his head back and forth with the splitting ache; why was he having so much trouble controlling his own thoughts? Why was there so much rage growing inside of him?

It was extremely frustrating. He hadn't lost control of himself like this since … since then.

… …

He shakily looked at the child wobbling towards him while holding the arrow that stuck out of his chest, globules of tears streamed down his pained face. "Oreh?" The child whispered, reaching a small hand out towards him. Even at such a traumatic time the boy had been so brave, instead of falling over and crying he sought help from the one he trusted most and Herobrine wanted to reach him.

… …

"You- you!" A man in golden armor shouted, point an accursed finger at the hero. The man stepped forward with a torch producing a warm glow in the fading daylight, revealing his shocked facial features.

"The Sovereign's boy!" One of the two guards behind the golden one shouted aloud, they ran around the high ranking sentinel then grabbed the child before dragging him away from the Hero who now had the blooded arrow in his hand. They kneeled down to the injured and crying child, trying to calm him though he was in great pain. "He's seriously wounded!" One of the guards cried, studying the deep hole in the center of Conner's chest. "Somebody get a priest! NOW!"

"Why did you do this Herobrine?!"

…

He awaited for a reply but the white-eyed man seemed speechless, still staring at the crimson coated arrow in his hand. "I said why!?" The man in golden armor then withdrew his iron blade and moved closer to the hero, impatient for answers with a posture ready for battle.

"Brutus, I- I. I didn-" He started, lightly stuttering from the scene before him. "I was merely trying to help him, I can heal him." More guards and royal attendants with burning torches lit the area and the trace of blood on his hands. Each and every guard were speechless with dread and astonishment.

The gold sentinel threw his arm at his side in his hostile gesture. "Lies! The disgusting evidence in your hand is all that I need for a viable reason. I can't believe you would stoop so low as to take the life of an innocent child, one that has been put into your care many times. You've betrayed the boy, the one that played with you from time to time, one that only wanted 'you' there when he went outside. You betrayed us, your own fellow soldiers! I knew you were always a demon."

"But I would never!"

"Connor was the one that found a friend in you more than any of the children his own age, and yet you betrayed even him." Brutus looked away with an appalled expression and raised his sword at the old hero. "You are a traitor! I knew you were never truly one of us."

"I-" Herobrine shook his head back and forth, still fixated on the projectile and the dark liquid at his feet.

"Oh how low our hero has fallen." Brutus returned his revolted gaze to the powerful man. "How could you? There has to be a reason so why? You know I don't like repeating myself Herobrine. Why did you do this?"

"I didn't do it." He finally moved his gaze upwards towards the men that gathered round, they whispered questions to each other with their own shocked and confused looks.

"You were caught red-handed! There's even some blood there in-between your fingers! What was your motive? You always admired the stronghold and the ideal of authority, so was that the reason? Did you want to claim the throne for yourself and rule it and it's people?"

The demi-god narrowed his eyes and threw the arrow to the ground. "No! Why would I? This fortress is a wonderful place, but I am no leader." Herobrine said with deep modesty. "My power doesn't make up for wisdom and guidance of our Sovereign, so why would I kill his only son; whom I love as if he were my own?"

The golden guard clicked his tounge in skepticism. "Well that is not what I believe, you've always led us in battles and you loved to take charge during our missions. You've even said you wish you had a place like this to call your own to me once!" Brutus sneered, warping his confused expression with that of anger and narrowing his brows. "You were playing along with that rebel weren't you?" He tilted his head a bit and stepped forward a couple feet.

"You're in the lot with him, aren't you? Letting your little public scene make you out to be the good guy, the hero everyone loves and admires; some even wanting such a figure to be their guidance and keeper. But it was all a ruse to look like the great hero while secretly trying to kill off the royal legacy, to overthrow our leader. Is that what happened?! Was the hero act all about deceit this entire time?!"

The civilians on the sidelines and the guards all whispered quietly to themselves and each other, seeming convinced. But Herobrine heard each and every one of them, they questioned him with the sentinel's accusation and were agreeing with nods and faces of resentment.

"You're wrong!" Herobrine interrupted and stood his ground. "I only removed the arrow to heal him, there must have been an assassination ploy at work here. Yes, I failed to keep the area clear of threats while distracted by Conner's odd behavior tonight; but I would never do such a thing to the boy! Now stand aside, he needs me!"

… …

The kid suddenly screamed as a priest with gauzes tired to wrap the wound. "He's- he's bleeding too much." The priest murmured in anxiety and dread. He dropped the gauze from his shaking hands as he stared at the mess before him, the wound was too great. "He needs to be healed, he must heal quickly! Please help Herobrine!" The man begged as he tried to move the pained child over to the hero, but then the guards grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back before removing the boy from his grasp.

"Heal him?!" Brutus gawked at the priest. "What makes you think the one that just shot him would heal him you fool?!" The sentinel barked and shot a cold glare at the cleric.

"Conner!" Herobrine tried to run towards the kid but Brutus blocked him off with the sword and pointed it at him.

"Stay back monster! I won't let you touch him! You shot him, and now trying to cover yourself up by pretending to want to 'help' him. I will not be fooled Herobrine, now stand down and surrender."

Herobrine narrowed his eyes, he was running out of time to save the child. "He's going to die! Just let me heal him, if I wait too long it may be to late!" The powerful man countered as he ran past the commanding sentinel. He moved around the armed man but not without feeling a sharp pain run across the side of his abdomen along with a burning sensation forming at his back.

"Not so fast Herobrine."

... ...

… …

"My son?!" The sovereign felt his knees grow weak and he fell onto them, staring down from the balcony with a face of horror. "You killed my son?" … The man said more quietly and closed his eyes, tears flowed down his grief-stricken face. "Conner!"

Herobrine turned himself around to face his ruler. "Your majesty, it wasn't me who did this! Tell these men to back off so that I can save your son!" He pled.

"Don't listen to him my lord, I know what I saw." Brutus spoke up. "You can trust me, you've always trusted me the most."

The cloaked royal man pulled himself back onto his feet, he kept his gaze away from the scene as he looked to the side; still in shock. "Just hurry and get my son to the Shrine of Notch; gather more priests too. As for Herobrine, remove him from my sight at once! … I'll be down in a second Connor, just hold on." The Sovereign said shakily and soon ran fast through the doors at the top of the balcony as more guards surrounded the white-eyed man below.

… …

"Let me help him?" Herobrine softly plead and moved his hands forward, moist eyes glowing lowly as the child became less responsive. "Please, I didn't shoot him with an arrow, this must have been an assassination attempt; but I- I had nothing to do-"

"You can say in your trails, now back away and place your hands on the ground, don't make this harder than it should be." Brutus commanded with a dark tone. "You should be thankful that the other sentinels aren't here right now, I am sure that your comrades won't be so happy of your crime and neither will Lionel once he finds out."

Herobrine's wide eyes narrowed thinly. "Shut up and leave him out of this! My true friends and brother will stand by me just as you should, you know I would never do such a thing!"

"I used to believe that, somewhat-." Brutus paused and took a few steps to the side in thought cautiously before walking back into his place that blocked the wounded kid. "But- I don't think we are friends anymore, and the rest will leave you as well, murderer. Going against Notch's beliefs and your lord you will pay for your crime! Now surrender and face justice!"

Herobrine couldn't believe what he was hearing, he was mad because his 'friend' had turned on him and didn't even allow the being to explain himself. He was almost afraid that the others would too, but no, he had faith in them. They were always kinder to him anyways, especially his figurative brother. Brutus often lectured the hero and gave him the cold-shoulder on more than enough occasions since his arrival to the land, he even suspected the man to be jealous of him since the Sovereign seemed to favor the being more.

Come to think of it, Brutus was never much of a friend. Herobrine didn't let the thought dwell too long on his mind since the child was dying, he had to at least save the boy even if it meant taking the retribution. "I will take the punishment as our lord sees fit, even if I didn't do it. But please, just let me help-?"

"No! Now hands on the ground or we'll use force!" The man and his sharp weapon moved closer with more lower ranked sentries closing in.

Cut off again; Herobrine felt rage boiling up inside and watching the child several yards away writhing in pain made it grow. It grew more and more as Brutus passed in his line of sight of the child along with more guards, now surrounding him with bows and swords pointed at him, all of them were against him. "Why won't… you let me save him?" He gnashed his teeth together and sneered viciously as he kneeled down and placed his hands upon the ground, his fists coiled up tightly and uncoiled, he dug nails into the dirt to control them. His eyes now glowing even brighter in the dark, illuminating the area around him.

"Save? Ha! You won't fool me. Your intentions were cruel. I always saw a dark side in you Herobrine that no one else could ever see, that ungodly power that flows through your veins? Tch, I only befriended you from fear to begin with, I don't believe in this 'gift' Notch created because you wouldn't be violent if that were the case. All of those battles with mobs and rebels, false heroism. Your 'divine' spells and vicious tactics have all proved to be extremely dangerous and you have during a few battles; manage to harm some of the squad and even put our lives in danger."

"Not deliberately!" Herobrine scowled and glared at the lead sentinel before returning his eyes back to the ground, everything he could see was steadily becoming blurry, foggy.

The armored man took a step forward in bravery, still anxious but using the number of the royal guards to put out his own intimidation. "Didn't matter, Notch wouldn't create a a champion for us that would possibly harm his other creations that he wanted to protect. Let's not forget to mention several of the revolutionists that you nearly killed? The rebelling humans always ticked you off more than the monsters of the dark and I have seen with my own eyes as you tried to kill one in your rage demon since you claim not to work with them. Notch did not create you and nor does he care for you."

"Shut- up." Herobrine ground his teeth together painfully and he adverted his glare to the sentinel and then back his clenched hands after hearing Brutus spout the nasty thoughts of what he believed, his fingertips scraped deep jagged lines in the dirt below him. "I need to help Conn-"

"Lionel should have never brought you to this place." The sentinel scoffed.

A loud cry from behind the cluster of guardsmen made Herobrine snap his head in that direction.

"Great Notch! He's… dying! Please, let him live mighty one from the Aether!" The priest shrieked and threw his arms up to the starry sky in panic.

Herobrine's eyes suddenly blazed bright, and the intense brightness partially blinded the men around him. His fists shook and the ground in front of him began to quake. "Get- out- of- my- WAY!" He shouted and several men screamed and fled as the ground cracked around their heels, a few of the braver ones remained in place and raised their weapons up to strike Herobrine.

"So you are going to fight? I knew you were a demon!" Brutus shouted as he and a few of his men charged at the hero.

Just as the men reached him, he raised one hand in the air then pounded the clenched fist into the ground as hard as he could. "rettahS enotS … htarW fO tsiF!"

The men stopped as the crack stretched even further out and branched across the fortress's entryway before a loud booming sound came from underneath their feet. Dust, gravel and dirt abruptly exploded out of the pores from the ground and the land in front of the being parted in one quick splitting fashion, stone underneath the dirt broke apart and the now large gapping hole swallowed everything within range. All that could be heard was the loud cracking of stone chunks tumbling and smacking into other rock and the very faint echoing screams of men as they plummeted to the depths of the dark crevice.

All Herobrine could see now was white.

… …

Herobrine howled as his vision of the now approaching miner blurred in and out and slowly fogged into white. He stumbled about and placed a hand on a nearby tree to keep himself upright, he growled darkly as footsteps neared him; giving a fair warning to back off. The bark underneath his palm started to get hot and it began to singe the longer he held on.

…

Steve was startled to his core, yet here he was still walking closer to the powerful man. He saw what Herobrine did to the ground in the memory and that was with his bare hand alone, he watched from the Hero's own eyes. What he just saw was only bits and pieces of a memory, some of those pieces were tragic and filled with betrayal and anger. One large portion though made him angry himself, Brutus had stopped Herobrine from reaching Conner to save him and then spoke out against him with vile words of how he truly felt about the hero.

It was no wonder that the powerful being was so enraged. Conner must have died from falling into the ravine if he didn't bleed to death first, that made the miner's chest hurt so bad. Only after causing the split in the ground did everything fade out completely; all he could see was white and hear the sounds of people screaming before they too faded out. Blinding white consumed his vision, then the memory ended. Herobrine's rage grew out of control as well as his willpower to keep control it, it's like he wanted to blindly smite everything around him in his fury.

Despite the crazed hero just yards away from him appearing to struggle with self-control; Steve moved at a more quicker pace. He immediately halted as the tree Herobrine touched caught on fire. The wood under his hand burned and the whole tree itself was now being consumed by flames. Crackling sound from behind him made him turn his head back to see the tree he was knocked against was now also on fire as well as more trees in the surrounding area. Steve spun in place, watching random trees just spontaneously combust in different places. A few branches from above broke and collapse at his feet with embers and leaves gently floating down, he almost was struck by some of the falling debris.

Herobrine was going to burn everything to the ground!

"Stop Herobrine!" Steve shouted as he moved a hand outwards towards the hero's empty arm, he could feel the atmosphere around the being become hot and stifling as he neared. Steve almost regretted his decision to get any closer but he was so far now so why stop there.

… …

"Herobrine! … Stop! … Please?!" Everything was so hard to hear, too hard to focus on. All he could see was a plane of white with a slightly darker figure moving about right at him. That figure faded and now many of them appeared and frenzied about in his line of sight, several ran away from him and a few others clung to sharp items and stuck close by and that infuriated him. They hated him. They blamed him. ... They betrayed him.

Something suddenly touched the powerful man's left arm and he snapped his head to the side and instantly drove his elbow into flesh and shoved the human form away from him in one powerful motion, sending the figure flying back several feet onto the ground. The human-like body rolled until it stopped on it's stomach, it slowly lifted itself up onto it's knees.

"Herobrine! Ugh, stop this madness! It's me?!"

The hero moved closer to the human and a sword of diamond formed in his hand. Those who daringly betrayed him were his enemies and just like the mobs they must be vanquished, erased. He walked closer to the downed humanoid and kept a cold glare on the man as he got closer. Perhaps all of these similar figures were his enemies? He thought as he raised the blade up. The man before him crawled back a few feet but the hero strode forwards and thrusts the blade through iron and a sharp cry filled his ears, an all too familiar cry.

Herobrine stopped and yanked the blade away quickly before he reached a hand outwards to the one he just injured. That voice... He stumbled backwards as his vision cleared out, the man in silver armor before him on the ground and clung tightly onto his shoulder to stop the blood flow. He stared back in worry and hurt.

"Lionel?" He whispered, shocked from the action he just committed.

"Hero-brine-." He hissed in pain and managed a small smile. "It's good- to see the concern in your eyes … again. Those bright stars in your head were blinding me." He winced with his grin falling into a frown as he moved his left arm up. "Gah! What happened to you? What did you do?" He forced himself to lean up. "I didn't want to come home to a mess like this after such a wonderful week with my wife, I leave for just a little while and of course things go to crap. What's going on here?" He looked up at the hero with serious squinted eyes.

Herobrine scanned his surroundings quickly and found that people were running around the dark streets in horror, screaming. Many of them grabbed pails and hauled water from the nearby well to try and douse out the flames that rapidly consumed their homes, others held weapons and scrambled onto higher places as the sounds of monsters came from outside the fortress walls in mass. There was one large crack in the wall where zombies tried to squeeze through, spiders climbed over top and there wasn't many guards in sight to defend the unarmed civilians. Chaos filled the area around him, the smell of death was everywhere. There was so much fire, crumbled buildings, and even bodies lying across the street with their loved ones weeping over them. He once knew some of those now corpses, one close by in particular. A younger guard in training, he was quite similar to Lionel… once.

"Herobrine?"

"But I-?" He shook his head in confusion. "Did I do this? I killed them?" He glanced down at his hand in shock, blood had dried in the creases of his fingers. He looked back at his friend with his mouth slightly agape. That blood belonged to Connor.

Lionel stood back up and staggered around but regained his footing and pulled out his iron blade. He grimaced as he readjusted his arm, he was now going to have to wield with only one hand as apposed to his usual two. He struggled to keep the blade raised up, the pain he had really distracted him. "I don't know what happened. I just arrived outside of the town just a few minutes ago, had to rush Nori to somewhere safe before I ran out here. After coming across the burning buildings was when I saw you standing out in the middle of the street with beaming eyes, just staring into empty space with all this chaos about.

Something isn't right, there may be something wrong with you." The man blinked, then gaped lightly in realization. "Wait. Is this what you were wanting to tell me before I left? You mentioned something beyond your control, is this what you meant that night? Some nature?" The sentinel searched his eyes, silently pleading for an answer.

"Lionel, I-"

The guard shook his head and glanced around; a scream of terror caught his attention, a spider was attacking a woman nearby. "Agh, forget about if for now, we don't have time to worry about it! We can settle things out later, we need to save the people and quick! The monsters are getting through and over the walls, we need to kill them off and quick! Let the other guards can take care of the fires, saving lives is our number one priority Brine; let's go!"

His mind drew a blank, everything seemed to move very slowly around him as he slipped out of reality. The blood? The fire? Mobs on village grounds? "I caused all of this?" He asked himself quietly as he gazed at all the chaos that surrounded them, he was so confused and suddenly feeling a pain in his heart that he hadn't felt so strong before.

The hero walked towards a mourning woman weeping over her dead husband several feet away, he moved a hand out to help her up and she screamed as he approached. She instantly jumped to her feet and ran into the dark passageway between the houses, scared for her life.

"Monster!" The voice of a man nearby shouted and pointed at him.

"We don't have time Herobrine! We need to move!" Lionel shouted as he cut down a zombie stumbling towards him and then ran for the spider attacking a lady.

The hero heard a child scream and he snapped his head around and stared at one of the burning houses as pieces of it collapsed from the inside. A young village boy ran out crying to a guard and clung to the man in fright, the man scooped up the frightened child into his arms and ran just before the building completely crumbled into a blazing heap of charring wood.

"Conner!?" An image of the young injured boy popped up in his mind. Where was he? He needed to hurry, to save him! "I have to-" He stopped, he then noticed he was down in the settlements and quite far from the fortress gates where the young boy had been shot. How he got all the way down here was nothing but a blur, he didn't remember. "Conner?" He whispered in despair, certain that it was now far too late. He didn't get the chance to save the child, only that he tried before everything faded.

"Herobrine, we don't have time! Come on the villages need us!" Lionel motioned the hero to follow after pulling the woman up onto her feet and directing her to run to safety. "The front gates were sealed when I tried to go up there to request assistance, I couldn't get in so I suppose everybody is safe inside the stronghold." Lionel fought the pain and yanked at Herobrine's elbow. "I am sure the guards got the boy to safety. The Sovereign is probably on lockdown, but it is our duty to protect the people! ... Herobrine?" He continued to tug at the being's arm until it finally moved along with him.

… …

Herobrine's blinding fury began to die down as the smell of smoke and blood flooded his nostrils. The white started to darken and shadowy warm colors bled before his eyes, blackness now surrounded him along with crackling and flickering flames surrounding him on all sides. The smells and sounds reminding him of that catastrophic night. He blinked a few times and noticed he was staring at the ground now, there was the miner in the burning glow; lying on his back with his right hand clutching to his now bleeding shoulder.

Blood flowed from the wound and the human hissed as he tightened the pressure on the stabbing. Herobrine felt an item in his hand and noticed it was his own sword, the one the human had used and not his other. He didn't remember attacking the mortal nor taking the blade back so apparently he lost control… again.

"Herobrine?" A cracking voice came from the injured miner.