Nightfall had approached, and with it returned the voices. They had gotten louder and more intense in the past few months, leaving him to reach the conclusion that sooner or later, his sense of bloodlust would go over the top. They constantly echoed in his head, slowly driving him mad. The harder Sparklez tried to ignore them, the more they seemed to boom in his mind. Murderous, dark thoughts had plagued him since the very beginning. Sometimes they triggered his worst memories, in the form of a flashback, normally from his childhood. This just so happened to be one of those times. A sharp pain surged through his head, causing the Captain to grip it in a desperate attempt to fight back the memory, yet he was unable to. The setting around him began to fade, and was then replaced with a place that he remembered well. The orphanage.

The building wasn't too large, only about 25-30 meters wide, from what Sparklez could recall. His view shifted to the far side of the long, stretched-out room, where himself from the past was staring off into space, absorbed into his own thoughts. The other children were crowded by the windows facing the hallway, in attempt to possibly become adopted that day. The Captain glanced back at himself in flashback and felt a fairly strong sense of sympathy, and even a bit of loneliness, just before the scene changed yet again, to the outdoors. Only a few days, or maybe even a couple of weeks had passed since the previous memory he had seen in the flashback. Sparklez was hopeful, thinking that this might be when he met another boy, whose name had slipped his mind for the moment, one of the first who was actually nice to him, but alas, it was not. Instead, a much older boy (for at this point in time, he was only six), about eleven or so, and a group of his friends came up from behind him. A frown crossed the present-time Sparklez's face, remembering quite clearly what had happened here.

Suddenly, one of the boy's friends picked him up by the back of his shirt, leaving the child to thrash helplessly in mid-air. "Let go of me!"

The older boy, whose name he now remembered as Thomas, picked up a nearby stick, but it looked as if it had been crafted into a crude weapon for beating things. "We've had enough of your shenanigans, Sparklez. We all know that you're nothing but a messed-up freak."

The six-year-old looked slowly towards the ground below him; a flare of anger flashed in his eyes. He glared at Thomas, raising his head to look at him. It was obvious that the child was unable to think of a good comeback, but it still dealt a similar effect. "Uh-oh, looks like the little demon is mad," one of the group members mocked, "What kind of dark magic is he going to use this time?"

"Either you shut up by yourself, or I'll have to do it myself."

Thomas only laughed. "What kind of a threat is that? There's nothing you can do to us, and now you're only earning yourself an even harder beating."

Immediately after, the much larger boy inflicted a somewhat strong blow to the younger Sparklez's head, causing a fair amount of blood to streak down the side of his face. The child whimpered in pain as soon as the stick made contact, but fell silent afterwards. His gaze met the ground, focused on the crimson that was now dripping onto the grassy field, dark red against lush green, as Thomas prepared another strike with his wooden weapon. This is the fifth time this month... It gets even more painful each time...

A dark voice echoed in both his and the present-time Captain's mind. These mortals have no idea who they're messing with. Go on. Make them pay. Take your revenge.

Slowly, the Sparklez from the past stared back at the group in front of him with glowing, white eyes. "Don't say I didn't warn you..."

Behind him, the older boy suddenly began choking due to an unseen force, startling the others. He dropped Sparklez to the ground, who then rose to his feet just in time to grab Thomas' weapon, stopping it instantly. Although the older boy was able to release his weapon from Sparklez's grip, that didn't stop the younger from blasting him backwards into a tree. A few of the members of Thomas' group fled, but quite a few stayed behind. They managed to surround him, but he quickly repelled them with a forcefield-like burst. He steadily approached Thomas, an expressionless look on his face. Silently, the child revealed a hidden knife, with faint red stains covering it. Blood. Thomas tried to back away, but he was frozen in place, which was Sparklez's doing. Just as the child was about to inflict the fatal blow, the flashback faded away.

The Captain was heavily breathing at this point, as it had just occurred to him. Saige was one of the many who constantly beat, insulted, and overall bullied him, endlessly making his childhood into a living Nether. His dark blue eyes narrowed. She would pay for that. But why wait? He could easily kill her here and now... Sparklez rose from his sitting position on the bed, immediately turning to his right, where a lone diamond sword was propped up against the wall. He swiftly grabbed the weapon and held it out in front of him, observing the moonbeams reflected on the sharpened blade. A dark grin formed on his face, revealing his intentions. He was going to have his revenge.

His now white eyes glowed in the darkness of the hallway, enabling him to see perfectly fine in the pitch-black space. A faint, flickering light came from underneath one of the doors, immediately turning his attention to it. Slowly, he pushed the door open, unheard by the mage resting by the fireplace inside. Sparklez stepped into the room, the floorboards giving off a short creak when he did so. Saige's gaze moved from the fire as she whipped around, a light-green sphere of energy almost instantaneously appearing in her hand. The mage's hazel eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the other Minecraftian. "Why are you-"

In the blink of an eye, Sparklez had rushed forward and pinned Saige against the wall. She glared at him, hatred evident in her eyes. The Captain only returned the look with a smirk. "How does it feel to be the helpless one for once?"

"Sparklez, I've changed! I'm nothing like that now!"

The Captain's white eyes narrowed, his expression now a frown. "I know that you're lying. You may not admit it, but I know you're still silently judging me, even as we speak."

Saige's gaze moved to the floorboards as she tried to think of a way to escape. Just as she was about to throw the Minecraftian into the wall behind him with the use of magic, a surge of electricity shot through her. She slid to the ground, small bursts of electricity occasionally sparking around her. "You're not the only one who can utilize magic to your advantage. I have my tricks as well."

The mage moaned softly as darkness began to cloud her vision. She had never felt such magical power before, as it had drained nearly all of her strength in a single blow. "Wh-What are you!?"

"Don't you remember? You said it yourself. A demon."

With that, Sparklez brandished his diamond sword and thrust it directly into the mage's heart. When he did so, an overwhelming feeling came over him. Pleasure. He raised his blade again, craving even more of the feeling, and stabbed Saige over and over, until his outfit was splattered with her blood. A insane, twisted grin was on his face, like one of of a madman. The Captain rose to his feet, observing the unmoving body of the mage. Her green robes had grown much darker due to all of the blood, and it was beginning to stain the wooden floorboards as well. He was just about to sheathe his sword when he heard a faint gasp from the hallway. Sparklez immediately began to head towards the door, the crazed look still in his blank, white eyes as murderous thoughts entered his mind.

Rain's eyes were widened in sheer terror. She had been told by Sparklez himself that he was Herobrine's son, but she had never expected for him to do something like this. She let out a slight gasp in shock at the sight of Saige's dead body. There was no way that he had actually killed someone! The younger Minecraftian's panicked thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of footsteps heading towards the door. Rain backed up nervously, although her instincts were screaming at her to run. She had no idea on where to hide, and she knew that running wouldn't help. The older Minecraftian would easily catch up. Rain slumped against the wall and brought her knees up to her chest. I don't know what to do anymore...

At that moment, the door opened, allowing the light from the room to cast the towering shadow of the Captain over the girl. She whimpered slightly, afraid of what he might do to her. For a split second, she could see his menacing white eyes before they suddenly cut back to blue. His sword clattered to the floor, as did he. His gaze met hers for a second before he collapsed. Rain switched into a crawling position as she hesitantly moved towards him. "...Sparklez?"

She received no response, indicating that he had either passed out, or was too exhausted to speak. Rain sighed in worry for the older Minecraftian. It still seemed as if he hadn't told her everything yet, confirmed from his actions. Rain brushed her bangs out of her face, knowing that the two of them couldn't stay there much longer. Someone would discover the house, find out about Saige's murder, and turn the both of them in to the authorities. She frowned, wondering where exactly they could flee to. However, Rain was unfamiliar with Eastern Minecraftia, and only knew of a few cities and towns here and there, as she had grown up in the Central-Western area. Luckily, she was able to remember that not too far away was the town of Windvale, which was too large to be considered a normal town, but too small to be called a city. It would be the perfect place to lay low, at least for a while.

In the dim light of the large room, the silhouettes of two figures were visible in the darkness. One of them knelt before the other, the hood of their cloak covering their face. "My lord, the day that you return to the Overworld is upon us."

"You have done well, Aero."

"Thank you, my lord."

A visible dark aura formed in the dim chamber as the flickering form of the Lord of Shadows slowly became a solid being. Herobrine observed his now existent hand for a second, then faced the Commander before him. Suddenly, Aero rose from his place and rushed at him, a sharp knife in hand. Herobrine merely caught the armed Minecraftian's hand in mid-stab, stopping his strike almost immediately. "Now, now, there's no need for such violence."

Although Aero's face showed no emotion, it was obvious that he was enraged from the anger that burned in his eyes. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU'RE THE REASON WHY ALL OF MY FAMILY ARE FUCKING DEAD!"

Herobrine kept his composure, even after Aero's furious outburst. "My son's origins have nothing to do with your family's untimely death. There is nothing that you can blame me for."

Aero continued glaring at the immortal being in front of him for a few seconds longer, then dropped to his knees. He stared at the cold, stonebrick floor in shame. "Forgive me, my lord, for my anger overwhelmed me..."

The eldest of the two remained in a frown. "Don't let it happen again, or else you'll end up like the last soldier who betrayed me."

A flicker of fear glinted in the Commander's eyes, as he was aware of the consequences the soldier had faced for working as a double agent for the Elite Guard. The soldier had been cast into the depths of the Void, never to be seen again as his coding within the virtual world of Minecraftia was gradually deleted until it seemed as if he had never existed at all. Aero shuddered, imagining himself in a similar situation. The Commander gazed up at the Nether Lord with a slight look of defeat in his night-black eyes. He gave a long bow of his head as he spoke, a sign of respect. "I am only loyal to you, my lord. I will never think of doing such a thing again."

"Very well. Now, before I proceed in my conquest of Minecraftia, I have an order for you."

"What do you request, my lord?"

"Take down the town of Solstice, and leave no survivors. It will surely crush the spirits of those who wish to oppose us."

"As you wish."

(A/N: Love how I said that you guys shouldn't expect chapters so quickly, yet three days later, I finish another chapter. Way to get a point across! Just to clear up any confusion, Solstice is the town in the very beginning, like the one in Chapter 1 and 2. Kinda weird name, I know, but most of the cities and towns that already exist in this fanfic are kinda weird as well. I don't really have much to say this time, so onward to the three Reviewer Questions I got this time, I guess...? (Send mah chars moar, pls! Dey can evun bee supar randum questiuns!))

This question was asked by several people: 'Who is Sparkz!?'

Sparklez: It's hard to explain, but he's kind of like another version of me, but more... insane. Yeah, something like that...

Some random Guest asked me this: 'Where's Alex, Captain's real life brother?'

...He has a brother? O.O HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS!?

PrincessLyoka, you seem a bit confused, so let me explain.

Dray is my in-game character, and after finding Ant and Anti unconcious in the temple place in Witherbend, she brought them back to her workshop in Windvale, which is somewhat nearby. Some of the Dark Legions peeps decided to invade Windvale and take it over, so they fought them off. Anti was the only one on the rooftops, btw. Hope that cleared up some confusion!

Jeff seems kinda worried about Ant's condition, but he's fine, so no worries!

Ant: It's just that I've never done something like that before... In the past, I've only conjured up fireballs, but never a giant fire vortex like I did... earlier...

(A/N: Oh gosh, I'm afraid Ant's going to faint again. But before he does, all I have to say is: Thank you guys so much for all the support so far, and I hope for even more people to enjoy this fanfic known as Fire Within! So until next time, Dray, signing out!)