Chapter 12:
The Traveler
The ten year old wandered down the path, stomach growling. He had one piece of bread left, but he knew that he would have to save it. He could go without food a little longer. Suddenly, he noticed a man standing on the edge of the road. The man was concealed by a black cloak, but he pulled down the hood to reveal a pale face that was framed by black hair when he saw the boy approaching.
"Do you have any food, young boy?" He looked down at his bag, where he kept his only bit of food. Then he looked up at the man. He could try hunting...Or just try to find an apple. Whatever the case was, he wasn't going to leave someone hungry.
"I do." He replied, pulling out his bread. "It's not much..." He held it out for the man. "But you can have it."
"Thank you." He said, and once he ate about half of it, he handed it back to him. "You are a very special boy. Were you aware of that fact?"
"I am?"
"Yes. Not many would give their food to a total stranger, especially when they only had one piece of bread. And is not just that. Do you know of Herobrine?"
He nodded. "My parents always used to tell us-I mean, always used to tell me." That wound still hadn't healed. If he didn't talk about, maybe it would finally close. "They told me about him. Isn't he an evil creature?"
"People have different interpretations of the past." The man replied.
"Oh...They also told me about the prophet….The princess from the fiery depths of the Nether." He felt a twinge of guilt. It wasn't just him that they had told. It had been her too...The past was in the past. He had to stop dwelling on what had happened to his adopted family, even though he blamed it all on himself.
A small smile appeared on the man's lips, reaching his dark brown eyes. He had the sneaking suspicion that the man was silently laughing at something that only he understood. "Would you like me to tell you something, Steve?"
The boy flinched. "I never told you my name."
"Ten years ago I suggested the name to your parents. I would recognize you anywhere." Steve watched him with even more interest. He had realized before that this man wasn't normal. But with this new revelation, he found himself wanting to know more.
"Do you know the lines of the prophecy?"
He shook his head.
"The white-eyed king shall be reborn once more,
His allies shall appear, stronger than before,
The Dark Mage shall become one with a beast,
The Seer shall be the one who is feared the least,
The Miner shall try to forget the past,
The Warrior shall try to make the memories last,
The king's wife shall follow her heart,
Even if her choices may tear the chosen apart,
The six shall all take each other's hands,
Together they shall fight for all the lands,
When the light emerges, she will have won,
Unless the dark can destroy the sun."
The man finished reciting it, and Steve felt his curiosity bubbling up inside of him. Now he was really interested. How had he known it so well?
"You are the Miner, Steve."
When what he had said sunk in, Steve started to protest. "But that means that when Herobrine comes back, I'll be his ally!"
He nodded. "Exactly. Herobrine will require your assistance. He will require it even more than anyone else in the prophecy."
"I don't want to be his ally!"
"Many of us are stuck with fates that cannot be changed. But the wisest people try to make the best of it." He glanced down the road. "I must go soon. But before I do, I need to tell you something. It is about the other members of the prophecy."
The man put her hand on Steve's forehead, and suddenly images started to fill his head. He somehow knew the role of each person, even if he only caught tidbits of each one. He saw a pair of white eyes, and knew that it was Herobrine. He saw a trail of enderman particles and knew that it represented the Dark Mage. A pair of cat ears represented the Seer. He saw himself, and understood that he was the Miner. He saw a flash of long pale orange hair in the midst of a bloodbath, and knew that it represented the Warrior. And he saw a man dressed in green and knew that it was Herobrine's-
"Wait a second! Why is Herobrine's wife a man?!" He questioned, but when he opened his eyes he found that the man had disappeared without a trace.
"A man told me once..." He started, purple eyes shifting nervously around the room. Not everyone would be happy with what he was going to say. But he had a sneaking suspicion that the man had let him gain that information for this purpose. Why he had to make him the one to know he wasn't quite sure. But whatever the case was, he had to continue on. "He even gave me images of each one of you..." He took a deep breath. He could tell what the reactions of two of his companions were going to be, and he wasn't very happy about having to suffer through their anger and protests.
"Orpheus, like he thought, is the Dark Mage. I'm the Miner, as I said before. Levi, obviously is Herobrine. Gwen is the Seer. The Warrior isn't here right now..." He couldn't bring himself to finish his explanation. He glanced around the room, noting the disappointment in Gwen's eyes. He felt guilt rise up. It wasn't his fault that Gwen, Levi's childhood friend, wasn't supposed to be Levi's wife. But he had been the one to break it to her, and he hated to see how sad she looked.
"Then what about me?" Aria questioned. "Who am I?"
Orpheus shared a look with Gwen and Steve. Steve winced when he thought of what was going to happen any moment.
"Yeah, who is Elf Boy-"
Realization suddenly struck both Aria and Levi at the same time. "Oh no." Both of them said slowly in unison, eyes going wide in shock and horror. Like Steve had guessed, both started to protest.
"I'm not going to be Levi's wife-"
"And I don't want Elf Boy to be my wife!"
Steve shifted awkwardly. This was what he had been afraid of.
"You're kidding, right?! I'm not some wimp! I could be the Warrior!"
"Yeah, maybe that guy messed up, Steve!"
"He didn't." He replied quietly, anxiously biting his lip.
"I can't be his wife-Remember how scared I got when I first saw him?!"
"And remember how much I wanted to kill her after I met her?!"
Orpheus spoke up. "But the reason for that is because you learned that Herobrine meant griefing and death in Minecraft. If you hadn't known that, you wouldn't have been so terrified of Levi."
"But I can't stand her!"
"And I can't stand him!"
One of the chairs to the table was pushed back suddenly, scraping against the wooden floor. All eyes turned to the source of the sudden disturbance-Gwen.
"Ari, you're lucky...you're lucky to get to be that close with Levi...So don't keep protesting against it."
"I'm not lucky to be stuck with this jerk!" Aria replied hotly.
"...Ari, just appreciate that chance you have, alright?" Keeping her eyes hidden behind her hair, Gwen walked out of the room and into the library, shutting the door behind her.
She crossed her arms. "I don't see what her problem is. She's not the one stuck with Levi."
Steve sighed. "You're just as oblivious as Levi, Aria."
"Don't compare me to him!"
"I'm not oblivious!"
Orpheus spoke once more. "You're both oblivious. Can't you two see how much Gwen was hoping that she was the one Levi was supposed to be in love with?" Neither of them said anything. "I have to be younger than anyone else here, and I can tell that much."
No one spoke, and after a minute of silence, Aria left to go to the bedroom on the second floor and Levi headed outside. Only Steve and Orpheus were left in the room.
"How old are they?" Orpheus questioned, Pandora jumping into his lap as he sat down.
"Levi's nineteen, and since Gwen is his childhood best friend, I'm guessing that she's around his age. Same thing with Aria as well. I'm thirty-one."
"I really am the youngest..." Orpheus trailed off.
"What about Pandora?"
Orpheus looked down at his companion. "Twenty-five. Enderman apparently live longer, so she's still a child. A very smart one." Pandora gave a small grin at what her friend said, muttering what Steve guessed to be thank you. Orpheus replied with something in the language of the endermen.
"What about you, Orpheus? You said that you were the youngest of us all."
Orpheus didn't meet his curious gaze. "I could lie about it, but I have a feeling that you would realize my lie." He sighed. "Do you promise not to treat me like a little kid?"
Steve nodded. "How old are you?"
"Eleven years old." He replied, his eyes finally meeting Steve's. "Well, I'm going to be eleven in about a month, anyways."
A/N Bet you didn't see that coming! But that isn't the reason I'm writing this author's note. I need some help from you guys. I don't want to make Orphy a Gary Stu for two reasons: I hate Gary Stus and Mary Sues, and the name Gary Stu doesn't seem to fit him at all. So could you send in some advice on how to make Orpheus still be smart, but at the same time act his age? Your help is appreciated!