Firstfandomfangirl: Alex don't be stupid

Me: Unfortunately that is a recurring theme in this fic :) lol enjoy!

CHAPTER 6

Alex yelped in surprise and stumbled back. She immediately drew her sword and demanded, "Who are you!?"

The Aetherian chuckled and tucked her pink hair behind her ears. "My name is Cyrena, and I think I already know who you are. Are you, by any chance, the Human with Herobrine's powers?"

Alex had two options here, and neither were very good. She could lie, but that would probably anger the Aetherian if she saw through her lies. She could tell the truth, but she doubted that this Aetherian was here with good intentions. "Uh…um…" she stuttered. She didn't think fast enough to choose, so the Aetherian decided for her.

"I'll take that as a yes. So, Human, this will go one of two ways. You can come with me willingly to King Haurus, who will get you nice and situated. Or, you can resist, and I can knock you out and drag you. Your choice."

This seemed to fix a lot of Alex's problems. This was basically a golden ticket to do exactly what she wanted to do in the first place. She didn't even need an Aether portal, this Aetherian would take her! It seemed like a no-brainer to take the Aetherian's offer, but…

…something was wrong.

Haurus. Alex always knew that this was the king of the Aether, and he had held this title for almost three hundred years now. She never used to care about him, just like how she didn't care about King Naidisbo of the End, but that had changed. The name caused rage to curl up in her chest. Haurus. She sneered at the very thought. She HATED him. Why? She wasn't sure. But she absolutely loathed him.

"I'll kill you for this, Haurus!" Herobrine screamed at the sky. "You're a coward! A coward! I'll kill you for this! I'll kill you!"

Herobrine's words flashed through her head. The memory caused her hands to curl into fists. 'It's not my memory,' she tried to tell herself. 'I don't have a problem with Haurus.' It was hard to believe that, though, when the king's name filled her with utter disgust.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Alex sneered, drawing her sword.

The Aetherian raised her eyebrows. "I actually hoped you would say that. It makes my life so much more interesting." She drew her sword and unexpectedly whipped it above her head. To Alex's horror and surprise, the blade stretched and changed as Cyrena moved it around. When she snapped the sword, the blade CRACKED like an overpowered whip.

Thank the gods Herobrine had met Cyrena before, so Alex knew what the Nether she was seeing. Apparently, Cyrena's power was she could manipulate any metal she touched.

Alex already regretted her choices.

Cyrena snapped the sword towards Alex and with little other choices, she leaped out of the way. The blade still sliced into her leg and she hissed in pain. She swung at Cyrena with her own blade, but she easily deflected with her whip sword and knocked the weapon out of Alex's hands. She grabbed the sword out of the air and smirked at Alex. The iron blade seemed to melt in Cyrena's grasp, running down her arm and forming a bracelet around her wrist. Cyrena then tossed the useless handle back to Alex. All she could do was stare at the handle in shock.

Alex knew this wasn't a fight she could win. So, with limited other options, Alex turned and started running back towards the village as fast as she could. Maybe she could get another sword from Copper, if he was still in town, or maybe Tropelet would be willing to—

Cyrena teleported in front of Alex, nearly causing her to run into her. "Not so fast, Human," Cyrena quipped. She grabbed Alex by the throat and held her in place. The metal band around her wrist; the one made from Alex's own sword; split into two pieces and traveled down her body. They bound around each of her wrists and jerked her hands together so they could meld together, forming handcuffs. Alex fought against the metal, but it didn't move under her touch like it did with Cyrena. "I told you that you were coming with me, and I meant it. His Majesty is expecting you."

Alex slumped in defeat. She should have known that running was a bad idea, but there really wasn't much else she could have done. Aetherians were nearly impossible to defeat if you were anything other than a fellow Aetherian. Their inblood magic was incomparable to anything else the other races could bring to the table. This was a fight Alex was destined to lose.

Electricity crackled across Herobrine's skin. He grabbed Cyrena's sword out of the air, the blade slicing into his palm but he didn't feel the pain. He sent a wave of energy through the metal and Cyrena's body locked up. She almost immediately dropped her weapon, which was still warped from her powers.

"Didn't you ever pay attention in school? Metal conducts electricity," Herobrine said with a snide smirk. He picked up her bent sword and pointed it at her.

Aha.

Something came alive in Alex. It was like a fire started in her, and it was spreading through her body. Her fingertips tingled and her eyes snapped white. Cyrena stopped and stared at Alex in shock.

"You're not a fast learner, are you?" Alex said, meeting Cyrena's eyes. She sported the same snide smirk Herobrine had in the memory, and paired with her now-glowing eyes, she looked eerily similar to him.

A Human might have lost this fight, but Alex was more than human.

Electricity crackled in Alex's hand and she looked down to see a diamond pickaxe materializing into her grasp. It was odd, but she didn't question it. She needed a weapon since her sword was currently a puddle of molten metal burning into the grass. Cyrena watched the pickaxe appear with a look of horror across her face. She had severely, severely underestimated what this human was capable of. She then scowled. "You're coming with me whether you like it or not!" she shouted.

"No, I don't think I am," Alex laughed.

The sounds of diamond clashing with iron echoed through the forest. Alex hooked Cyrena's blade with her pickaxe and attempted to rip it out of her hands, but the metal just bent like warm rubber. Cyrena flicked the blade and tried to entangle Alex in it, but she sent a burst of electricity through the metal and forced Cyrena to pull back. Cyrena landed a well-placed kick to Alex's stomach and shoved her to the ground. She poised her sword over Alex's head and brought it down, but Alex teleported out of the way and right behind Cyrena. She almost imbedded the point of the pickaxe into Cyrena's back, but she whirled around in the nick of time and barely managed to deflect the blow. When she whirled around the point of her sword whipped around and slashed Alex across the forehead. She let out a shriek of pain and backed away, clutching the bleeding gash. Blood was dripping into her left eye and making it hard to see. She scowled at Cyrena, who scowled back.

"Give up, Human. This isn't a fight you can win," she said with a sneer. "You're fighting with power you barely understand."

Alex ran her fingers over the cut on her forehead. It had already stopped bleeding and it was glowing slightly, a sure sign it was healing. Instead of answering, she summoned a ball of fire into her hand and threw it at Cyrena. Cyrena deflected it with her blade, which turned orange for the briefest minute from the heat. Alex kept throwing fire, purpously letting Cyrena block the blasts with her sword. Each time the sword was hit, the metal grew hotter. Cyrena realized Alex's plan at the last minute, after the metal had grown soft from the extreme heat. She tried to use her powers to keep the sword together, but the molten metal was too soft and a large portion of her blade fell off. She couldn't control the metal without touching it and she couldn't touch it without burning herself, so she just lost her sword.

"I think I can handle this power fine, thank you very much," Alex said with a smirk. She swung at Cyrena with her fist, knocking her to the ground. Cyrena scrambled for anything, even the tiniest shred of metal, that she could use as a weapon, but she had nothing. She stared up at Alex in terror, who was towering over her. Her bright, glowing eyes and dark expression made her downright terrifying. Cyrena tried to crawl away, but Alex planted one of her boots on her chest, pinning Cyrena in place.

There was only one way to kill an Aetherian, a fact that Herobrine knew all too well. Because of their healing abilities, they could survive just about any wound inflicted to them… except for brain damage. If an arrow or blade was shoved through their skulls, even a severe concussion, it would kill them instantly. Herobrine knew this, so Alex knew this too. She raised her pickaxe.

Cyrena just scowled at Alex. She had never begged for her life before and she wasn't about to start, especially from a Human. She just closed her eyes and accepted her fate.

Alex brought the pickaxe down—

-but stopped mere inches from Cyrena's forehead.

The light faded from Alex's eyes until they were back to their plain green. Her heart pounded in her chest, harder than it had ever been in her life. Her arms were shaking, and so were her legs. She was not okay, but continued glaring down at Cyrena so she wouldn't try to attack. "Get out of here," Alex ordered.

Cyrena blinked at her. "You're letting me go?"

"Don't make me regret it," Alex hissed. "Get out of here."

Cyrena didn't need to be told again. She vanished into thin air, leaving the broken and half-melted piece of her sword resting in the grass.

Now that Cyrena was gone, Alex crumpled to the ground. Her breathing was ragged and irregular. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. She was sweaty and shaky and scared and overall just not okay. She was quickly losing her grip on consciousness but a few clear thoughts got through the growing haze.

'I teleported.'

'Where the Nether did this pickaxe come from!?'

'I probably shouldn't have let her go.'

Alex finally slumped unconscious.