Back in Chains
Nuka opened his eyes tiredly and blinked sleepily into the bright daylight that shone directly into his face through the window.
He didn't know how long it had been since he and the others had appeared in the city full of magicians and subsequently lost consciousness, but it must have been a few hours since it had still been deep night when they arrived.
Feeling tired and still somewhat sleepy, he wanted to turn his head to look for Herobrine and Einshine and ask them what had happened, when he suddenly heard voices conversing that hadn't noticed he was conscious again.
One of them belonged to Einshine, which he recognized immediately, but the other voice was much too high, so it couldn't possibly be Herobrine. Nuka froze as he heard her.
Who is that?! he wondered alarmed, as he tried to calm his racing heart, while desperately trying to figure out what to do next!
"Can you really do nothing more for him?" Nuka paused as he heard Einshine's concerned voice. Was he talking about Herobrine?
"Unfortunately, no," the second unknown voice replied sadly, sounding very tired, which relieved Nuka as it meant she was a lesser threat, but he remained vigilant.
He still didn't know who the person was and what powers they had.
"I'd like to, but for some reason, my spells seem to hardly work at all, and until I figure out what the problem is, I can only help him to a limited extent. And as long as he's not awake, I can't apply any potions to him," the second voice continued, "Right now, all I can do is hope he recovers on his own."
So they were really talking about Herobrine, Nuka concluded, before he opened his eyes and looked around cautiously. The first thing he saw was Herobrine, who lay on a mattress diagonally across from him and still seemed to be unconscious.
Kneeling beside him was a young woman with reddish-brown hair and a black dress that resembled the robes of the magicians, which led him to conclude that she must also be one of them. However, he could not see anything else about her as she had her back turned to him and seemed to be tending to Herobrine.
Opposite her, on the other side of the wall, he saw Einshine, who sat on his own mattress and also looked at her skeptically.
At that moment, his gaze fell on the window, and he froze as he discovered the iron bars there. Immediately, the old nervousness rose in him, causing him to turn to Einshine, who had also turned to him and whose face immediately brightened when he saw Nuka.
"Oh, hey Nuka," he said a moment later with a friendly voice, before he raised his hand and, to his horror, discovered an enchanted iron chain on his wrist, which, together with a second one, probably attached to his other wrist, led to an iron ring in the middle of the room. From there, two others led towards Herobrine, and a glance at his wrists showed Nuka that he too was chained to the ring with both hands.
Nuka stared at them in disbelief. This was what he had feared the most, and he felt himself begin to tremble as the memories of his time in the dungeon came rushing back to him with full force. Memories of a cell, that he was trapped in helpless, scared, and in pain, with no way out, no escape... He had to get rid of the chains! Now!
"No, no, no, no, no!" he whispered quietly as he grabbed one of the chains and frantically tried to pull it off his wrist, but it wouldn't budge, making him even more desperate and panicked.
"Nuka, are you okay?" he heard Einshine ask with a concerned voice shortly afterwards, but Nuka didn't respond.
He was still trying to get the chains off, while tears began streaming down his face, trembling all over, before he collapsed into himself with a sob and buried his head in his hands, more images appearing in his mind's eye.
Images of the dark, cold cell he had spent most of his time in, unable to move, images of the water dripping from the ceiling onto his skin, images of his tormentor and the whip appearing and striking him, causing Nuka to flinch and let out a soft cry before curling up even more, unable to fight the memories.
Until a sudden grip on his arm brought him back to reality!
Startled, Nuka jumped and lifted his head, only to see Einshine, the white-eyed Griefer, suddenly sitting in front of him and looking at him with concern.
"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down! It's just me," he quickly said, noticing Nuka's fear. "What's wrong?"
Nuka looked at him uncertainly.
What could he say?
He swallowed hard and desperately tried to find the right words before giving up with a shake of his head and burying his face in his hands again.
"I-I can't be in chains again..." he finally said, closing his eyes and trying to regain control of his breathing. "I-I can't...I can't go through all that again...I-it's too much...I can't..."
"Is it because of your captivity in Steve's dungeon?" Einshine asked with a sympathetic voice, which Nuka nodded in response to before breaking down again, at which point Einshine hugged him.
An action that surprised Nuka and that he didn't expect from the touch-shy Griefer, but it was welcome as it comforted him and provided some solace, for which Nuka was very grateful.
So the Griefer did care about him after all.
"Hey, it's okay," he heard him say a moment later with a surprisingly softer voice. "You don't have to worry. I don't know what they did to you, but whatever it was, I assure you the magicians won't do anything to you."
"Right?!" he continued with a sharper voice, but Nuka knew that it was not directed at him, but rather at the young sorceress, who was surprised by his outburst.
"Uh... of course not," she replied a moment later, whereupon Einshine smiled again.
"See?" Einshine said a moment later in his usual cheerful tone, turning to Nuka, who still looked unconvinced.
He seemed to have noticed his doubts, as his smile disappeared a moment later and he sighed deeply before focusing his gaze on Nuka and looking at him intently.
"Hey, I know being trapped isn't nice," he continued in a serious tone shortly afterward. "But we have to get through this, and ultimately you're not alone. You have me as your personal entertainment and distraction, and Herobrine!"
,,Even though he's not really good at it right now, let's be honest," he added with a grin to Nuka, "even if he were awake, that wouldn't change."
Nuka couldn't help but smile when he heard that. Einshine had always been good at cheering people up. He really was the best at it.
"That's true," he replied with a weak smile before wiping the tears from his face and turning his gaze to Herobrine.
"How...how is he?" he asked the young magician with a concerned look, who sighed and also turned her attention to Herobrine.
"Bad," she continued with a hoarse voice, "but already much better than when you guys showed up. I would like to help him more, but," with these words she tensed up and Nuka could clearly see the frustration on her face, "nothing works! No matter what spells I use! Either they don't help at all or only very poorly."
She sighed.
"It's as if the wound is actively resisting healing! But I don't understand why..." she continued with a bewildered head shake, at which point Nuka looked at her in surprise. He had never heard of anything like this before.
"At least my creams and herbal mixtures seem to help," the young magician continued with a tired voice, "but if I can only use them, it will take months for him to be completely healthy again."
"I definitely need to investigate this and ask Ethan about it, and...get some sleep. This night has been very...exhausting..."
With these words, she ran a hand over her face, and for the first time, Nuka could see the deep bags under her eyes. But before he could say anything, she turned back to Nuka and smiled.
"But don't worry," she continued with a friendly voice, "even though he's still not in great shape, you don't have to fear for his life anymore. I made sure of that."
"Is there anything else I can do for you?" she added with a questioning look at Nuka, who looked at her in surprise since he hadn't expected that.
"Um...no...I-I don't think so...thank you..." he finally managed to say, to which the young woman simply nodded before getting up and turning to Einshine.
"Alright, you know what to do?" she continued without further ado, turning to Einshine who simply nodded. "I'll be back as soon as I can. If anything happens, don't hesitate to knock on the door. I'll instruct my colleagues to come get me as soon as that happens, okay?"
"Got it," Einshine replied with a grin, to which the young woman smiled and shortly after disappeared through the door.
"What does she mean, you know what to do?" Nuka asked a moment later, after she had left, to which Einshine made a dismissive gesture.
"Oh, she just means that I should follow the instructions she gave me regarding Herobrine while you were still asleep," he finally replied calmly.
"I see," Nuka responded impatiently. "But what instructions did she give you?"
"Oh, don't worry about that," Einshine replied simply. "We just have to keep an eye on Hero and cool his forehead from time to time so his fever doesn't rise anymore."
"Oh...I see," Nuka replied quietly, to which Einshine leaned back with a satisfied sigh and closed his eyes, while Nuka looked back at Herobrine.
"Do you think he'll get better?" he asked softly, and he could feel his concern for Herobrine rising again, but to his surprise, the Griefer remained completely calm.
"I assume so," he replied without opening his eyes. "After all, the Magicians are considered the best healers in the world, and if they can't help him, then no one can."
Nuka swallowed heavily as he heard that.
"So we really are in their city?" he asked softly, to which Einshine simply nodded. "But why did the Endermen bring us here?"
"Maybe because this is one of the safest places in all of Minecraftia," Einshine replied with a shrug. "After all, they are also very powerful and have additionally erected a barrier around their city, which shields them from almost everything and makes it almost impossible to find them."
Nuka simply nodded silently.
He knew the legends about the city of magicians, the magical city where Minecrafters were not allowed and where hybrids were tolerated and not persecuted or killed, which is why many set out on their way through the deserts of the world in desperate hope to find it, but very few ever made it here.
Nuka had once tryed to search for it too, but had quickly abandoned the whole idea after wandering around a desert for several days on his first attempt and almost starving.
Being here now would have filled him with joy and relief that time, but he didn't feel that way at all. On the contrary, he felt as lost and devastated as he had not been in a long time, even though he was in the safest place for hybrids like him.
I wonder why they put me and Einshine in chains anyway, he asked himself as he glanced at his chains again and shuddered as dark memories resurfaced in his mind, causing him to quickly look away. They don't usually treat hybrids like criminals.
Maybe it's because we allied ourselves with Hero, he added, looking at Herobrine before turning his gaze back to Einshine, who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and looking quite relaxed.
"Hey, sorry about my outburst earlier," he continued in a soft voice, turning to Einshine, who opened his eyes surprisingly indignant.
"Why are you sorry?!" he snapped at him with unexpectedly harsh tone. "Did you choose to be captured, tortured, and traumatized?!"
"No!" Nuka quickly replied. "Of course not, I..."
"Then don't apologize for something you had no control over!" Einshine interrupted him grumpily, before leaning back with a shake of his head and closing his eyes again.
Nuka just looked at him amazed, but then smiled, before turning back to Herobrine, who was still unconscious and probably far from waking up.
Sleep well, my friend, Nuka thought. I hope you get well soon and don't worry that you've lost your powers. I promise to protect you until you regain them or until I die.
He sighed deeply.
I know you won't like it, but it's the least I can do after everything you've done for me. Besides, there's nothing left for me in this world if you die...so why should I hold back in trying to save you? I don't think friends do that...
But don't worry, he quickly added. Everything will be fine. I promise you. And I going to keep that promise.