Invigorating Measure
With quick steps and a serious look, Roxana rushed down the underground corridor towards the direction of the dungeons.
It was only a few minutes ago that she was rudely thrown out of her bed and sent to her leader and former master Ethan Collins, who explained the reason for her appearance.
,,I know you're nervous," she heard her former master say in a friendly, but also serious voice, "but he's injured and unconscious, as are his two assistants. So they won't be able to do anything to you. And you are one of the best healers here and the only one I trust enough to perform this task with the necessary care and conscience."
Roxana sighed deeply while she thought of what she was expected to do.
Even though she felt honored that her former master trusted her so much, she still wondered why he had not given this task to any of the other white mages.
After all, they were all older and more experienced than she was.
However, she had no time to think about it!
She had to concentrate on her task! However, she could not suppress a queasy feeling when she thought about taking care of the most feared god to ever exist in Minecrafters and murderer of so many innocent souls.
The last time she had seen him was at the Festival of the Gods in Skylor, where she had invited her sister Aurora and where he had attacked the city with a boy.
Roxana still had nightmares about it today.
But before she could think about it further, she turned a corner and discovered two more mages standing guard in front of a nondescript enchanted iron door.
"Hey, Roxana, what are you doing here?" one of them continued in a surprised voice, and Roxana's mood lifted considerably when she recognized her longtime friend and fellow student Leon.
"Did Ethan send you?" he continued, whereupon his smile disappeared and his look became serious again, which Roxana confirmed with a nod.
"Yes, I... I'm supposed to take care of him and help him recover," she answered in a faltering voice, whereupon Leo looked at her in disbelief.
,,You?!" he replied in surprise, "but that's far too dangerous! You can't..."
"He's unconscious," Roxana interrupted him sternly, "not to mention that he's injured and has no powers. I don't think he can be much of a threat to me. So are you going to let me in or not?"
Leon looked at her grimly and for a moment Roxana feared he would deny her access. But he sighed finally and nodded in surrender.
"Alright," he finally grumbled, stepping aside and unlocking the door for her with a wave of his staff, "If Ethan gave you the job, I guess I can't stop you."
"But be still careful in there," he added in an urgent voice as he looked anxiously at Roxana. "They may all be chained up and shouldn't be able to use their powers, but you never know what these guys are capable of."
"Knock if you need help or want to get back out," he added, to which Roxana just smiled and entered to which Leo closed the door behind her, leaving her alone again to her relief.
Leo was someone she had been friends with since she first stepped into the city, and although she still held him in high regard, his overprotectiveness and the attachment he always showed her lately were often too much for her to handle.
I really don't know why he's been acting this way lately, she thought worriedly as she looked around. We used to have so much fun together before he decided he had to protect me and watch everything I do...and he knows that even though my main skill is healing, I'm good at defending myself.
Even though I hope I don't have to do it here, she added, looking more closely at the cell.
It was small, with nothing but a barred window facing the iron door and a torch over the door, from which only a dim light fell on the three mattresses lying on the hard sandy floor. Roxana could make out three people lying there, sleeping quietly.
One of them she recognized as Einshine, a well-known Griefer, but Roxana didn't know much about him except that he was a Creeper Hybrid and had also taken many innocent lives.
Next to him lay the boy she had been with at the festival in Skylor with Herobrine.
Roxana swallowed as she looked at him.
She had been the one then who had spotted him on the roof and given the young soldier the arrow that brought him down and subsequently made him a prisoner of Steve.
At first, Roxana had liked it, but after Aurora, her sister, had told her what happened to him in the dungeon, she had felt terrible for causing him that. It was completely against the philosophy of the mages.
That's why she didn't go to his execution and only learned through Aurora that he was saved by Herobrine, which pleased but surprised her.
I wonder why? Roxana asked herself, Normally Herobrine doesn't care about anyone, does he?
With that thought, she turned to the third person, who was also unconscious and, unlike the other two, didn't seem to be doing well at all.
Roxana's heart stopped for a moment when she saw him.
So that was him...the man all of Minecraftia was afraid of...Herobrine... .
Roxana swallowed hard when she saw him.
He looked so different from the last time she had seen him.
Much more human and surprisingly ordinary, but Roxana wasn't sure if that was just because he was so weak or because she couldn't see his white eyes.
His face was pale and sweaty, his clothes blood-soaked, as were the makeshift bandages someone had hastily applied.
His breathing was also shallow and intermittent, and it looked as if he was fighting for every breath. Roxana realized that if his condition did not improve soon, he would die!
Still, she couldn't help but admire him for his will to live, knowing that with such an injury, most people would normally be dead by now.
But she had to do something! Now! Otherwise he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer...
Without hesitation, she knelt down next to him and put aside the bag she had brought with her and began to remove the temporary bandage to treat the wound, which turned out to be much worse than she had expected, and she began to fear that the potions and creams would not be enough.
Nevertheless, she continued to treat Herobrine's wound and then bandage it professionally before turning back to his face and looking at him with concern.
He still seemed to be struggling a lot and what was even more concerning he seemed to have no energy left.
Roxana faltered and she felt herself tense up as she heard Herobrine's breathing getting weaker and weaker.
What should she do?
She couldn't let Herobrine die, even though she knew that many Minecrafters, including her sister, would welcome his death. Unfortunately she couldn't do them that favor.
He was too important for this world to do that.
I hope they will never find out that I was the one who took care of Herobrine and even saved his life, otherwise I will probably never be able to enter Skylor again, Roxana added in her mind before sighing.
But she knew she was left with no choice.
She had to help every person who needed it, no matter how much she detested him, that was the most important rule of a healer and applied to Herobrine as well.
With this thought, Roxana sighed again before moving a little closer to Herobrine and looking at him with an uncertain gaze.
The only question was how she could help him.
Even if she healed the wound with her magic, he would still die because of his weakness.
So he needed energy, more than anything else.
But how could she give it to him?
Roxana sighed deeply as an idea came to her.
There was a spell that could only be used by mages with the ability to heal as their main power and that would allow her to give him some strength and energy, but most magicians shied away from using it and not without reason.
Unfortunately, this spell had the bad side effect that when a person used it, they would see the memories of the other one, whether they wanted to or not.
Something that had disturbed many mages or even driven them mad, and Roxana had never wanted to use it either, but it seems like she had no choice...
Oh Notch, I hope I don't regret this... Roxana thought nervously before holding her staff carefully over his wound, closing her eyes and muttering the spell that would give Herobrine back some strength and life energy.
It wasn't long before the first images began to flood her mind, accompanied by feelings that were not hers and quickly threatened to overwhelm her, but Roxana knew she couldn't let that happen!
She had to hold on until she had healed Herobrine enough and hope that she would not go insane till that time.
She tried to concentrate harder on her actual task, while more and more images appeared in her mind.
And at first they were surprisingly harmless.
The first thing Roxana saw was a picture of a little boy sleeping peacefully by another person's side, followed by a picture of him playing with another person in a beautiful garden, his laughter filling the air.
These memories had a warm, happy, and pleasant feeling, followed by an unimaginable sadness that quickly turned to hate, though.
But before Roxana could look at them further, more images came, this time of a white-eyed Herobrine attacking Notch, followed by a flash of light, which was now followed by many more quick images showing a hallway through the Nether, a cell made only of Netherbricks and an iron door and an image of a dark throne with something dead lying in front of it. To her shock, it had a diamond sword still sticking out of its head.
All these images were full of suffering, despair and unbearable pain that filled Roxana's whole body and made her gasp and contort her face.
The next was a memory of an active nether portal and then they came.
The memories she had feared the most.
Roxana whimpered and she could feel tears begin to run down her face as the images of burning villages and towns, coupled with the screams and cries of people who had lost their homes and families and would soon lose their lives, filled her mind.
But to her surprise, it was neither satisfaction nor happiness that Herobrine felt while he did all of this.
There was only cold bitterness and anger, but also a certain resentment, coupled with a grim determination, as if he was on a mission.
As if he was not interested in the people and they were only a means for him to achieve something. However, Roxana could not imagine with the best will what could justify this destruction!
By now the memories had become so bad that Roxana could hardly think straight and she could feel herself shaking from exhaustion holding the spell in place.
She had to lift the spell! Now! Otherwise she would probably harm herself!
With a gasp and all the willpower she had left, she lifted the spell before slumping down and taking a moment to collect herself.
Her body shook with pain and effort and tears still streamed down her face.
It took a while before she was able to sit up and turn her attention back to Herobrine.
He looked much more peaceful than before and his breathing was more even and calm again, which meant that her spell had helped at least a little.
Good, then at least this ordeal wasn't completely in vain, Roxana thought with relief before sighing deeply and moving a little closer to Herobrine again to continue caring for him.
However, she couldn't help but think of Herobrine's memories that were still buzzing around in her head.
She had not expected to see so much pain and suffering from his side.
Burning villages and cities, yes.
Death and destruction of innocent lives, of course, but pain, fear and even sorrow and grief?
This was something she definitely didn't expect and she could feel some of the contempt towards him disappear and sympathy for him emerging instead.
Looks like there's more to Herobrine than meets the eye, Roxana thought as she took a cloth from her pocket and moistened it with water from a bottle. She couldn't help feeling pity for him as the images of the little boy playing happily in the garden came back to her.
How happy and content he was back then... she thought sadly, while she carefully dabbed the sweat from his forehead What happened that he changed so much and became the biggest murderer of all Minecraftia? What must he have gone through?
She sighed.
I wish I could ask him that, she added regretfully But for now I have to make sure he wakes up at all, I can worry about everything else later.
With this thought, she turned away and continued to search in her bag for potions and other healing items before wearily running a hand over her eyes and continuing to care for Herobrine.
This was going to be a long night for her.