Five years ago

"Herobrine..."

A quiet, gravely voice startled Herobrine up from an uneasy slumber. His hands immediately clutching to his blanket for comfort, he looked up at his protector with a silent question.

Notch's grim expression met him, instantly making him tense.

"Come." The larger man directed, slightly reaching his hand forward. Herobrine immediately obeyed.

They appeared standing high up on a plateau covered with green, swaying grass. Beyond the edges falling into cliffs below, endless green forest stretched, with only the tops of the trees peeking out from the heavy, white mist blanketing the earth below. Cool air laden with scents struck Herobrine's senses, bringing back bittersweet memories of freedom along with his worst mistakes.

Overworld? Why?

"They spoke of taking you from me. They believe that you are a danger to them, since they cannot control you directly. They said that if they allow you to exist, you may turn against them yet again and it will be even worse, considering what I taught you."

Herobrine startled and opened his mouth to speak in his own defense, but Notch's impatient gesture quieted him.

"I believe differently. You deserve a chance to live despite your past mistakes. That's why I'm setting you free."

Herobrine blinked at him, not sure what he felt about the sudden change in his position. He was safe so long as he stayed with Notch. Out there, he would be completely alone.

"You can stay safe so long as you stay out of their sight. There are countless worlds where you can find refuge. There are countless copies of you. You can take their place for a time and play their role. They won't be able to find you among them. Stay low and do not attract attention. Then perhaps in time, they will forget about you."

Herobrine nodded. Yes, he already knew a lot about these things since Notch explained it to him. He didn't understand why or how the world was the way it was, but what Notch said gave him direction. Only...

About to ask a question, he looked at Notch and noticed a dark look that held on his protector's face. His unspoken question trailed away. Despite his enormous power, Notch was also not beyond the power of those dangerous beings he called 'the Admin'.

"Won't they... be angry? That you... let me go?" Herobrine asked uncertainly and Notch winced, making a tiny dismissive wave of his large hand.

"Do not worry about that. I will manage. I am essential to their plans so they won't easily get rid of me."

Herobrine frowned, hating how these players, these humans from beyond their worlds, had so much power over them. But rack his mind as he might, he couldn't think of any possible way to defeat them. Notch flatly said that it was impossible. And the recent lessons were too raw in Herobrine's mind to take the risk and openly defy them again.

"Don't try to reach me directly." Notch's voice pulled him to present. Herobrine looked at him with a question. "Light a Beacon with this configuration. I will keep an eye out for it." A direct data upload followed.

To anyone who might have witnessed this conversation, the two figures would have seemed to simply stand in silence. Both dressed in plain clothes, t-shirts, trousers, and simple boots, yet both with a strange sense of power about them. Only the faint flicker in Herobrine's eyes, as he stood there expressionless and intent on receiving and storing the message, showed that something just passed between them without being shaped into words.

"Go. Remember what I said. Don't get in any more trouble or even I won't be able to help you next time. Be careful and farewell, Herobrine."

Herobrine obediently nodded. Already turned, Notch held his gaze on him, uncertainty, worry, and even a bit of mistrust fighting in his expression before it all shut down into his usual stern face. He was doubting that Herobrine could stay out of trouble, Herobrine concluded with a falling heart. Turning away, the more powerful being walked away and vanished in mid step.

Herobrine stood a moment longer, looking in the direction Notch left with a troubled expression. Then, his white eyes lifted and uneasily held on the mighty walls and skyscraper towers of the Ethereal city that had been both his prison and home for the past several months. Majestic, it seemed to float, resting on an enormous, flat island above the misty, green mountains of the world below. A scowl appeared on Herobrine's face as hatred settled in his features.

Abruptly turning, he vanished as well.

Nine months ago

"Hey!... We know it's you. You are the real Herobrine!... We'll be back. You'll pay for this! You'll pppa... agh..."

The huffing, red-haired human player chocked, pressing both his hands to the grievously gushing wound on his stomach where Herobrine's sword struck him. Angry, gray eyes burned from a face twisted with pain.

The player fell, his form vanishing. Items exploded out and floated in the air, same as numerous other spots nearby where the rest of the attacking players just met their demise. Only Herobrine stood, alone amid the scorched rocks, his chest heaving with effort and a scornful smirk on his face as he glared at the place where the player had been.

Then, he winced, slightly slumping as he relaxed and took a breath of relief. The wounds on his own form ached, slowly pulling closed. The rends in his clothing glitched faintly before vanishing as well.

The scornful smirk fell as white eyes turned and regarded the mansion behind him, its tall, wooden buildings burning in heavy smoke that rose into the sky. His lips twisted with bitter regret. Another home – gone. This time he managed to stay for almost five months before the players discovered his whereabouts. He could no longer hide here. Time to move on.

With a small huff, Herobrine turned away, casting the feeling from his heart as unavoidable. He should be used to this by now. All his most important things were concealed elsewhere and were much harder to find. All except...

Herobrine teleported to a closed room within the mansion, ignoring the roaring of the fire that already shone beyond the walls. Stepping to the table, where notes of paper lay, bearing diagrams and flowing, accurate writing, he picked up a book with a worn, leather cover. The front bore a stamped title - "Tales of Herobrine, a compilation, written by August Wren and published 4500AA. Property of Lushin Library in Grescov."

Dismissing the book to his inventory, Herobrine took another look around to make sure he didn't forget anything important. His eyes swept across the other bookshelves, the chests of supplies, and held on the arms-chair, where a plush beige blanket with sewn on teddy bears hung partly thrown across the velvety, blue cushions. Scowling, he stepped toward it and irritably snatched it, sending it off to his inventory as well.

A sharp look snapped up to the ceiling and Herobrine teleported away just as the entire upper floor of the mansion crashed down, burying his small, underground library under heaps of rubble...

Lightning forewarned of Herobrine's arrival.

Another world met him with cool shadow of the quiet, evergreen forest. Pulling in deep the scents of fragrant sap and pine, Herobrine lightly stepped off his singed spot in the otherwise pristine wooded grounds. Unhurried, he walked ahead, keeping a lookout.

His aim had been a little off, as usual. Somewhere near here, there should be another of his mansions, which spawned from time to time randomly across all places in Overworld. Well... not his exactly, but he considered them as such since remained the only one among all those mindless copies with his figure and face, who could appreciate it. They merely kept the place up for him until he – the true owner – had arrived.

Slightly smirking at that, Herobrine made his way forward. The location he intended to reach pinged right ahead, beyond those low-rolling hills heavily overgrown with tall oaks. Unwillingly throwing up his head as he walked, enjoying the cool touch of the air, Herobrine squinted at the blue sky where fluffy, white clouds swam in the great distance and a hint of a smile appeared on his face. Late summer ruled here and he loved this time of the year in the Overworld. This was... peaceful.

"Steve!... Hey, Steve!"

Instantly tense again, Herobrine snapped an irritated look over his shoulder in direction from which the distant voice came.

Locals, not players. Six human teens ranging from ages of twelve to sixteen stood lower in the hill, looking toward him with surprise. Did they not have chores to do or training of some sort that they were prowling around the woods so early in the day? Maybe it was some sort of a local holiday.

Herobrine pulled up the local calendar and scowled at the date, which lay in the middle of three weeks marked in red. He was right. Great... This was the time of the year celebrated by the locals with holidays and merrymaking and known to them as Autumn Harvest festival.

"Steve!"

Dismissing the calendar, Herobrine resumed walking at a faster pace. Hopefully if he pointedly ignored them, they would decide that he didn't desire their company and fall back – whoever it was they had mistaken him for.

"Steve! Wait up!" The locals didn't give up.

They broke into a run. Hearing their huffing breaths getting closer, Herobrine closed his eyes and stopped, slightly lowering his head in annoyance. He didn't even know who they mistook him for. Could he get away by telling them to get lost? Or should he attempt to play his usual role? He didn't even know the specifics of the legends that explained his double's presence in this world.

"Steve? Didn't you hear us calling you?" The teen's voice demanded, annoyed. Heavily breathing from their run, they stood behind him. Herobrine said nothing back.

His eerie silence and still posture sent first waves of uncertainty as the teens eyed him.

"Um... Steve?" This time the voice came unsure and timid as the boy cautiously came around him. A step brought him closer. Too close!

Herobrine's eyes snapped open beyond his volition and he glared at the offending young human.

"Aaaaah!" The boy cried out, stumbling back. Scooting on his hands and feet, he tried to back away from Herobrine as fast as he could.

"Jeremy, what are you..."

"Him! It's him! It's not Steve! Aaaaah!" The boy remembered that he could run and jumped to his feet as he stepped back from Herobrine even further. Herobrine couldn't help a smirk from appearing, playing on his lips. The locals were so easily spooked.

"What are you..."

Herobrine teleported a short distance away before the other teens, still clueless of his identity, could step toward him and touch him as he sensed they were about to do. The mere thought of that was intolerable.

He didn't go far, however. Standing on a hill above them, he inclined his head and watched their group. Confused and startled, the teens frantically twisted their heads this way and that, searching for the ominous figure.

"Herobrine! It was Herobrine!" The young human who had seen his eyes explained to the others but met their disbelief. Several pairs of eyes stared at him.

"It couldn't be. He never leaves his castle."

"It was! He had white eyes!"

"And, he teleported. Only Herobrine can do that." Another boy stood up in his friend's defense.

"But... He never leaves his castle!" The younger child said stubbornly.

"Pfft. You cannot know what he does or doesn't do. We have never even seen him!"

"Steve has. And he said that he usually just stands there, doing nothing."

"Well, this time he wasn't! Doing nothing, I mean. He was just here!"

"What was he even doing here?"

"I don't know! Maybe taking a walk? Who knows! I thought it was Steve! He looks just like him!"

Herobrine's eyes slightly narrowed at that. Who were they talking about?

"Who cares, I'm outta here. M'going home!" The young local who had seen Herobrine's eyes told the others and, turning away from them, strode downhill, his entire body nervously tensed as he kept throwing around anxious glances. The other children watched him leave, still standing in a huddled group as they unconsciously drew closer together.

One of them threw a glance up and startled, seeing a ghostly figure that now stood up on a hill, silently watching them. Grabbing up to the arm of the child next to him, the boy pointed a shaking hand in Herobrine's direction.

Gasping, all the remaining five fled after their friend. Herobrine watched them a bit longer, again amused, before his smirk slowly fell.

From this height, he could see where these children were going – it was a small town a mile or so to the south-west of the rising mountains where his new home pinged. Too close. Judging by what Herobrine had overheard, the locals not only knew of his new mansion's location, but had also visited it, snooping around inside. His mindless double should have reacted to that, but... the locals were not players, despite looking human. They were more similar to Notch and Herobrine and his double didn't react to their presence with the same hostility. Neither could Herobrine, especially because he knew that Notch cared about them.

He felt neutral toward the locals. But he didn't look forward to having them snoop around his dwelling, either. He should frighten them to keep them away.

Herobrine frowned. How would his double deal with this? Most likely it was the same as in all the other places he had seen – his copies were considered ghosts or something alike to that, living recluse in their mansions. Rarely, they appeared in the local cities and countryside, where they would spawn a bunch of monsters in a half-hearted and easily defeated attacks, after which they would vanish, returning to their mansion to wait for the arrival of players to whom the locals would turn for aid.

Encountering the locals and provoking them so soon was not in Herobrine's plans.

Were there any players currently down in that little city? Maybe he should just turn around and leave to another world?

Herobrine stifled a huff. He was already tired. To teleport so soon to another world would leave him utterly exhausted. He needed to sleep. Constant raids by the players had robbed him of the opportunity to rest for the past month and a half!

Scowling at the reminder, Herobrine span from his spot and proceeded ahead in short jumps that took him from one visible location to the next. His form reappeared briefly and vanished, poising in the trees, on the random rocks protruding from the ground, and scattered green meadows. Although more energy consuming, this was a far faster way of moving than walking and carried less risk of running into more snooping locals.

Only minutes later, he stood before his new home and critically considered it.

Another mansion stood between two rising walls of mountain slopes, washed liberally by the sun. Tall wooden turrets on each side, with bottom of the buildings reinforced with stone. Larger halls and corridors would lay beneath the ground in dim twilight.

Another temporary place that he would soon leave, even if the story those local kids would tell in the city didn't catch anyone's attention.

Herobrine frowned, not pleased by the familiar sight. He would have much preferred a small cabin in the wilderness, as he sometimes tried to do. Only the last time he attempted to live peacefully in the open brought him to the attention of the Admin and nearly resulted in his recapture. Notch's advice remained safe by far. Hide and pretend. But how annoying this was! He couldn't even take a walk without evoking a negative reaction from the locals, regardless of where he went. The persistent legend of his "evil" acts preceded him. And they were not even his acts, despite his brief rebellion against the players several years ago. He had since begun searching for the answers of the true origin of this legend and still had no idea where it all began.

Maybe all of this really was just a game, like the Admin claimed, and he was only a mistake that shouldn't exist. A being, made to play the part of the villain, couldn't change its ways just because it gained sentience. If anything, this only made him more dangerous, since he now understood his part in the world and could take greater actions to oppose them. That's why he had to be destroyed.

Notch believed differently. Herobrine was different from his doubles because he had free will. He could decide what role he wanted to play and it didn't have to be that of a villain. That's why he gave him a chance, allowing him to leave before they could carry out their decision concerning him.

They didn't give up on trying to find him, however. And he... he was no longer so sure that Notch was right about him. Was he really free to make his choices?

He hated the players. He hated everything about them! They enjoyed hunting him, the "real Herobrine", and he enjoyed bringing them down and destroying their plans whenever he could. And if it had been in his power, he would destroy their world so they would no longer return here.

Another short jump took Herobrine to the main hall, where a throne stood on a slightly raised platform at the end of the long, red, carpet runner. There, his mindless double stood, an expressionless look on his face, not reacting as Herobrine approached and briefly considered it, his own expression closed.

Leaving it to stand there, Herobrine teleported again.

This time he stood on a deeper level below the hall, in a stuffy room, where an enormous bed with royal posts stood in the middle, sporting blood red covers covered with dust. Another familiar and irritating sight. Herobrine silently glared at it all with disgust, then closed his eyes and concentrated.

At the effort of will, the room around him began to change, taking on his favored settings.

The ceiling lowered, the enormous hanging chandelier vanishing, while a fireplace opened in one of the walls and fire whooshed into being, merrily crackling over several stacked wooden logs. The bed shrunk in size, the covers changing to velvety, soft blue, and a wooden table rose from the floor where polished planks covered the drab, gray stone. An armchair appeared next to it. Cobwebs in the corners of the room retracted into walls. Soon, the entire room stood clean and cozy.

Satisfied, Herobrine humphed. White eyes shifting with longing on the comfortable bed, he shuffled to it and collapsed, his eyes closing. A plush blanket appeared in his hands, which he wrapped around himself until only the top of his tousled head showed. Minutes later he was soundly asleep.