Awakend
Pain.
That was the first thing Herobrine felt when he regained consciousness.
A sharp pain raged in his stomach, and for a moment, he wished he hadn't woken up again.
With a soft, pained groan, Herobrine lifted a hand and placed it on the spot that hurt the most. He felt incredibly weak and tired overall.
Why am I not feeling any better? he asked himself desperately, groaning again as the last memories began to flash before him.
He had been on the verge of finally getting back at Steve and Notch when he was literally stabbed in the back by him!
Herobrine growled softly, feeling his hands clench into fists as he thought about it.
That miserable scoundrel! he thought filled with hatred. He knew that I trusted him... and he coldly took advantage of it!
Herobrine sighed softly, sensing an overwhelming anger and despair welling up inside him, just like he had felt so many years ago. The difference was that now he was also ashamed of himself.
How could I fall for it twice?!
I knew exactly what could happen!
Seemingly, I really don't learn, Herobrine thought ashamed. I truly am the biggest idiot of all time...
But what happened afterward?
Did Null really take away his powers?
Were Notch and Steve dead?
And Nuka? What happened to him?
With that thought, worry shot through Herobrine, and he tried to move somewhat, but immediately regretted it as a sharp pain shot through his body, even worse than what he felt before.
The wound Null had inflicted on him was obviously still there, and although Herobrine was glad to be alive, he couldn't explain why.
Null would never have let him and the others live!
With this thought in mind, he tried to open his eyes again.
Finally, he succeeded, and after his vision cleared a bit, he could see that he was lying on the floor of a small room illuminated by a small torch above a plain iron door.
The entire room was built of sandstone, and even the floor beneath his mattress was sandy. But none of it gave Herobrine a clue as to where he was now.
The only thing he could still see was a window above him, but it was covered with iron bars, indicating that he was in a cell, which didn't exactly improve his mood.
However, he couldn't see much more.
With a frustrated sigh, he averted his gaze and froze as he spotted a person sitting opposite him on another mattress, apparently not having noticed that he was awake yet.
The person wore dark clothes and was huddled up, arms wrapped around their legs, covered by a thin blanket.
Herobrine squinted his eyes to see better, but unfortunately, it didn't help much.
Why could he see so little?!
Normally, he should be able to see everything clearly, even in complete darkness, but now, even with the weak light as assistance, he couldn't make out any features of this person, and the fact that his vision was always blurry didn't help either.
"Hel-hello?" he whispered, startled by how weak and broken his voice sounded, causing the head of the figure to snap up and turn towards him!
"H-Hero?!" they finally managed to say, and to Herobrine's relief, he recognized Nuka's voice, which filled him with relief.
He was so glad the boy was alive.
But before he could say anything, the boy scrambled up and quickly knelt down beside him, and now Herobrine could see his face, which showed signs of both fatigue and happiness.
"You're awake!" the boy exclaimed a moment later, his voice filled with joy. "You... you don't know how long I've been waiting for this…"
So this is the reason why I see much worse than usual... he thought as he closed his eyes, feeling his heart sink.
Now he couldn't deceive himself anymore.
All the other things like his weakness and the open wound had already been clear signs, but even he couldn't sugarcoat it anymore.
His powers, his strength, his eyes, his immortality, they were gone and they wouldn't return to him.
This realization crashed over him like a wave, and he felt like he was about to collapse under its weight, followed by an overwhelming anger and bitterness towards Null and himself!
"I'm so sorry for what happened, Hero..." Nuka's soft, guilty voice brought him back to the present.
"I could have prevented it. My mother warned me. She... she told me that I should save you from a big mistake. But I... I couldn't do it... and... and I was there on time..."
With these words, he sniffled softly, wiping the tears from his eyes with one hand, and Herobrine noticed how troubled he looked.
"If only I had been more persistent... you wouldn't be here now, and we..."
"Nuka, stop!" Herobrine interrupted him, attempting to give his voice a firmer tone but failing miserably.
"What?" the boy asked, confused, and Herobrine sighed before trying to respond, which surprisingly took a lot of effort.
But that didn't stop him.
"Stop...constantly feeling...guilty for everything," he finally managed to say, cursing his fever-heavy tongue, "especially when...when you're not the one who...who actually bears the blame and...by now its...getting annoying. Who... taught you to...behave like that?"
"Sorry," Nuka murmured quietly in response, causing Herobrine to sigh and roll his eyes, but too breathless to lecture him again.
Damn it, why had speaking suddenly become so exhausting?
"But are you sure I'm not to blame for it?" the boy continued with a soft voice. "I mean, so far, I am the reason why I've lost everyone who meant something to me, and now... I almost lost you too..."
With those words, he swallowed hard, and Herobrine could clearly see the tears in his eyes.
He sighed, feeling a new wave of guilt washing over him.
He had not only ruined his own life but also Nuka's...again.
"Hey, don't worry about that," he finally responded with a smile, hoping to cheer Nuka up a bit. "Thanks to you, I'm...still here, right?"
"That wasn't my merit..." Nuka whispered softly in response, before sighing and starting to tell everything that happend in a low voice.
Herobrine listened closely, feeling the tension rise within him as he heard what had happened after he collapsed.
"I see... so this is how we...ended up here," he whispered quietly, to which Nuka simply nodded.
"I don't know what happened to Steve and Notch, or to the guy who...who did this to you," he continued with a slightly trembling voice. "But I... I'm still glad we ended up here. Who knows what would have happened otherwise... if the mages hadn't helped you."
With those words, he quickly shook his head, as if the mere thought was too dreadful, before wiping his face with his arm and sniffing loudly, while Herobrine still lay there, pondering how to take in this information.
He had had very little interaction with mages so far, knowing that he couldn't harm their city.
That's why he had left them alone, even though he knew they could pose a threat to him if they were to join forces.
Luckily, they didn't like Steve either and would never do him that favor.
And that was despite the fact that they, like the regular Minecrafters, hated him and despised him for his actions.
Of course, they could decide to confront him alone, but Herobrine knew that mages were very selfish in these matters and preferred to stay in their own safe city rather than risk their lives trying to help other people with their problems.
It's surprising that they helped me at all, he added in his thoughts, feeling a slight annoyance rise within him.
He didn't like being indebted to anyone.
And especially not to the mages.
"So... how long have we been here?" he asked, turning to Nuka, who just shrugged.
"No idea," he replied. "Probably been a week. If not longer."
Herobrine looked at him in shock when he heard that!
So long! he thought dismayed! That meant the situation was worse than he thought!
"I need to talk to the leader! Now!" he continued without hesitation, turning to Nuka, as he attempted to sit up but quickly gave up, as a roaring pain flared up in him.
"What? No! You can't do that!" Nuka exclaimed, shocked, before he got up and looked at Herobrine with a concerned expression, as he struggled with the pain caused by his movement.
"You're too weak for that! And even if you tried... you wouldn't get far."
With those words, he raised his hand and showed Herobrine the chains that bound him to a ring in the middle of the room, and a quick glance at his own hands confirmed that he was in the same situation.
Herobrine snorted with amusement as he observed them.
Here he was, completely powerless and so weak that even speaking exhausted him, and yet they thought they still had to do this.
They must be still afraid of me, he thought now a bit more happier, before turning his gaze back to Nuka, who was now also looking at the ring with the chains.
"So... we're prisoners?" he continued, directing a questioning look at Nuka, who then nodded, crossing his arms and shivering before squeezing his eyes shut and quickly shaking his head.
He clearly didn't like the situation at all, and Herobrine knew all too well why, feeling guilt rise within him once again.
"And how are you doing?" he finally dared to ask, to which Nuka only lowered his gaze, and Herobrine could see him tense up.
"Not good..." he replied quietly, before shaking his head again, presumably trying to push back dark memories, before turning back to Herobrine.
"But it's okay," he continued with a weak smile a moment later. "I'm not alone. I have you and Einshine here. That helps..."
But even though these words were directed at Herobrine, they sounded more like reassurance for Nuka himself, who now nodded and gestured with his head towards the pile in the corner where Einshine was probably lying and sleeping.
One more reason why I have to speak to the leader, Herobrine thought grimly, sparing only a brief glance for the griefer as he continued to worry about Nuka I don't want him to suffer from those trauma more than he already has to.
"But why do you want to speak to the leader?" Nuka asked a brief moment later, looking at Herobrine with a questioning gaze, prompting him to respond.
"Because I have very... important for him," he weakly replied. "Very important information that... that he needs to... to fight against Null."
"Null?" Nuka repeated, confused, to which Herobrine simply nodded "Is that the name of the guy who... who did this to you?"
"Yeah," Herobrine responded grimly. "He... he's the one who helped me... escape from the Nether, and he... he supported me in the fight against Steve and Notch. I... I trusted him..."
Bitterness welled up within him as he spoke those words, causing Herobrine to close his eyes and shake his head again in frustration. "But I probably shouldn't have..."
"I understand," Nuka replied quietly, without delving further into his mistakes, for which Herobrine was grateful. "Well, if you want, I can try to ask the guards at the door to bring him here, but I don't think they will."
With those words, he was about to get up and go to the door, but Herobrine grabbed his arm and held him tightly.
"Wait!" he whispered pleadingly, causing Nuka to look at him with confusion. "There's... there's something else I need to tell you, something that... that no one else must find out."
"It's about your powers," he continued in a low voice, as Nuka sat back down beside him and looked at him with an uncertain gaze. "They... they are the same as...as Null's. And I think that...that you are...related to him."