alright so i have no excuse for why this took so long
"No." Notch's voice was a bit loud from the other side of the room, and Heather winced a bit from where she sat beside her sleeping husband. "There's no sign of him. While it's difficult for me to track a single Enderman, I would recognize him if I saw him… which I do not."
"Oh." She chewed her lower lip, looking down at Herobrine. After a brief stop by the mansion to pick up fresh clothes, he was looking better, and not so much like he was the victim of a murder. He was now getting some much-needed rest, some that wasn't induced by the shock of being stabbed several times. "I can't… I don't know why he would go somewhere we couldn't contact him, especially for so long." There was a sinking feeling in her stomach. "Which means he's probably- Null probably has him."
"It's possible, not necessarily likely." Notch shook his head. "But, if so, we will likely learn soon enough. Null no longer has power over mobs, he cannot take control of him, so the only reason he would keep him captive is to use him as leverage." Heather swallowed, not wanting to think of the other option.
"Yeah." She laid a hand on Herobrine's head, holding her breath and brushing his hair out of his face. He didn't stir.
"Notch!" She jumped at the sound of Steve's voice, and looked up to find him and Alex standing a couple feet away. Notch had sent them to the mansion to look for any sign of Herobrine's assailant, along with the command block now in Steve's hand that was programmed to teleport them back instantly. "Null doesn't appear to be anywhere nearby, but he left a message… written in blood." He cast a glance at Heather, worry on his face mirrored in her own. "That 'this is only the beginning'."
"I see." Notch dragged a hand down his face. "As I suspected, why else would he let Herobrine live? He has something up his sleeve."
"Agreed." Passing the command block to Alex, Steve came over to sit beside Heather. "I really think you should go home." He murmured, lowering his head beside her ear.
"I know." Resting her head on his arm, Heather looked down at Herobrine again. "I… really don't want to leave you guys to face him, though."
"But you and Herobrine are hardcore." Steve insisted. "We can all respawn, it's you two that Null's after."
"We don't know that." She protested. "And besides, Manfred." Her stomach twisted again. "Notch won't… Notch doesn't really care about him." She whispered. "What if he doesn't save him? Unless he's already gone?"
"Null has nothing against Manfred. For all he knows he's just another Enderman, right?"
"I don't think… no, he knows he's special." She crushed her hands together in her lap, not liking how they trembled slightly.
"And Null killed him once before, remember? Notch brought him back."
"But he's just one Enderman - and Notch already said he couldn't find him, if only we can get him back maybe we can bring him here and he'll be safe, but he's so weak compared to all the rest of us-"
"Heather." Notch called over, interrupting her babbling. "Are you aware of how mobs function?" She looked up, meeting his dark eyes with her uncomprehending ones.
"What? Um, I think so."
"When they die, mobs respawn." He went on. "But their memory is reset. If Manfred died, he would respawn, but he would not be 'Manfred' anymore." Her heart sunk. She wasn't sure how this is supposed to make her feel better. "However," Notch continued, "I have his profile saved from the last time we interacted. Hypothetically, even if he perished, I could restore his memory to him - missing the past year or so, but it would be better than a full reset, would it not?" Her face brightened a bit.
"That… yeah, it would. Would you be able to find… him again if he respawned?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not, but I could apply his memories to any freshly-reset Enderman." Heather bit her lip.
"Okay. That sounds good." It would be odd, for sure, even though Endermen really had nothing that distinguished them from one another. "Hopefully we never have to do that."
"Hopefully." Steve agreed. Sensing that the conversation had drawn to a close, Notch turned away again, focusing on his console and resuming his work. Heather leaned into Steve's side, gently working the tangles from Hero's hair as he slept. The tension and adrenaline from this morning had worn her out, but she was still too worked up to sleep. Instead, she resigned herself to waiting for Herobrine to wake up.
Herobrine sat upright, good eye closed and hands folded in his lap as Heather unwound the bandages that covered his eye. He winced a bit as a scrap that stuck to his face was peeled away, then reached up to prod at his bare eyelid. Heather pulled her hands away, wadding up the bandages as he brushed a thumb over his bloody eyelid, lashes trembling a bit as he opened his good eye.
"I can't open it." He reported quietly. "It's glued shut." Heather winced, then looked over her shoulder to see Notch's reaction. The creator stroked his chin, then a potion appeared in his palm.
"Apply this to your eye. Here." A scrap of fabric appeared as well, and he offered them to Heather. Thanking him quietly, she poured a bit of the pink liquid onto the cloth, then gently pressed it to her husband's eye.
"How do your hands feel?" She asked quietly. Herobrine shrugged, flexing his fingers.
"Shaky." He murmured. "But stronger than before I slept. They will probably heal without much trouble."
"Mmm…" He lifted one bandaged hand to place over hers, and a shaky smile flickered over her face before she pulled away to let him hold the cloth.
"Can Null get in here?" He spoke up, catching Notch's attention.
"I do not believe so." Notch shook his head. "So long as we are here, we should be safe. But I believed that regarding the hacker as well, and he proved me wrong. We must stay on our guard." Herobrine nodded, glancing over to where Steve and Alex were sitting nearby in diamond gear. Steve flashed him a small smile, but the gravity of the situation caused it to quickly die.
"Notch, can you get armor for them, too? The strongest you can make?" Notch nodded.
"That seems reasonable enough." He busied himself typing a long string of symbols into his console. Heather glanced back just in time to see Herobrine pulling the cloth from his face, staring down in dismay at the blood that stains it red and brown. She bit her lip.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered. Herobrine looked up, giving her a small smile.
"For what?"
"That you were hurt…" Heather twisted her hands together. "...maybe permanently." Herobrine's smile died, though he had to have already figured that out.
"It's not your fault." He reached out to squeeze her shoulder. "Don't be sorry." She huffed a bit, but didn't protest.
"Do you know how Null beat you?" Heather asked instead. "You've killed him several times in the past, and he's weaker now. Or, he should be."
"He can teleport." Herobrine pressed the soaked cloth to his eye again. "It took me off guard, it will not again." She nodded, looking over at Notch. A couple of armor stands were placed beside him now, each sporting a set of enchanted diamond armor, with a pair of enchanted swords lying on the ground beside them.
"Your lack of depth perception may inhibit your ability to fight, though." Notch spoke up. "I would not advise fighting him alone again."
"Believe me, if I can avoid being forced into a fight with him, I will." Herobrine's voice took on a bitter note, and Notch fell silent.
After a couple minutes, and a couple more applications of the splash potion, Herobrine had had enough and wiped away the remaining liquid before setting the cloth aside. As he wrapped his eye in fresh bandages, Notch crossed the room towards them, setting the enchanted armor and weapons on the ground beside the planks Heather and Herobrine sat upon.
"Herobrine." He spoke. The man in question glanced up at him, then down to the weapons, nodding in thanks before looking away. "There is a way that I can fix your eye." That got Heather's attention as well, and the both of them looked up to see him watching with a grim look on his face.
"My eye will likely heal on its own." Herobrine brushed him off. "This is not the first grievous injury I have sustained over the course of my existence."
"We do not have time to wait for it to eventually heal, do we?" Notch didn't bat an eye. "We have a fairly serious situation on our hands."
"How do you propose to help, then?" Herobrine met his gaze again, but his face was pinched.
"Yeah, I thought you said you couldn't heal him?" Heather cut in.
"I cannot." Notch agreed. "Not on my own. If he allowed me into his code, however, I could repair-"
"No." Herobrine interrupted sharply.
"No? Not when it could make the difference between your life and death if Null were to get at you again?"
"If Null should get at me, I will simply leave before he has the chance to injure me - a route I chose not to take before in the hopes of keeping him off of Steve and Heather." Herobrine's visible eye was narrowed in a dangerous glare. "I do not need your assistance."
"Why? You believe I will hurt you? Kill you?" Notch's eyes were cold. "I could have killed you many times over the past years, I simply have no reason to do so."
"You've left me be because you owe Heather a debt, you hold no respect for me." Herobrine snapped. "No, I don't believe you'll kill me, but you could just as easily make me into the mindless creature of which was your original vision - one you could turn off just as easily as one of them." He jerked his head towards Steve and Alex, sitting in stunned silence as they watched this confrontation.
"And why would I do such a thing? How would it benefit me?"
"Why were you obsessed with controlling me all this time?!"
"Okay, stop." Heather cut in. "The answer's no." She fixed Notch with a firm look, and he tightened his jaw, then turned and walked away. She looked back to her husband, only to find him glaring after his creator with eyes narrowed into slits. "Please try to work together." She spoke softly. "Us being divided would make Null's job so much easier." Herobrine grit his teeth, looking away.
The rest of the evening was quiet.
If yall havent already, check out my new fic Heir to a Bloody Throne! it gets far more frequent updates because 1. im actually writing it and 2. i don't have to change it to third person to post it here
~FFF