Unfortunate Coincidence
Nuka was about to go to his desk and inspect the mess of plants and potions left by Herobrine and Roxana when suddenly the door flung open and Einshine stormed in!
Nuka's face brightened immediately upon seeing the Griefer but it quickly faded as he looked into the face of his second-best friend.
"Einshine, is everything okay?" he asked softly, taking a few steps toward the Griefer, who stood with a lowered gaze by the door, visibly upset. "Is something wrong?"
But instead of answering, Einshine just shook his head before suddenly sobbing and hiding his face in his hands, sliding to the floor in front of the door. Nuka looked at him in shock!
"They know..." he finally choked out with a broken voice, confusing Nuka, who worryingly knelt down beside him, unsure of what to say or do.
"Who knows what?" he asked gently, reaching out to his hand to comfort Einshine. But before he could do so, Einshine vehemently shook his head.
"Jason!" he burst out, looking angrily at Nuka, tears visible in his eyes. "He knows!"
With these words, he pointed to his mask before shaking his head again and burying his face in his hands.
"I was just in the kitchen, making myself something to eat, when suddenly this idiot comes in and, out of nowhere, asks me if I'm blind or something..."
"What?" Nuka asked, dismayed. "But how would he know that?"
"Well, he's a keen observer, I guess," Einshine grumbled quietly. "He pointed out all the things I've done... running straight into a flowing block trying to escape the collapse, not reacting to the darkness everyone got when facing that new monster and the way I choose my food... all the things that no one else ever notices!"
"Its my fault. I should have been more careful!" he continued angrily, more directed at himself than at Nuka, who still looked at him with concern, a wave of understanding and empathy spreading within him.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one having issues with Steve's disciple.
"But why would he ask something like that in the first place?" he asked further, to which Einshine just shrugged.
"He said it's important so that we have a better chance of fighting Null, and... so that no one has to save me again..." he murmured softly, burying his nose in his arms and turning his gaze away.
"Einshine..." Nuka murmured softly as he understood what the Griefer meant, "It's not your faul-"
"Yes, it is!" he suddenly hissed angrily. "Everything that happened to you is my fault! Without me, you wouldn't have had to overexert your powers to save me, and you wouldn't have been hurt!"
"If only I could see... like normal people do," he murmured sadly a moment later, "then none of this would have happened."
Nuka looked at him sympathetically.
He knew that Einshine's blindness was a sore spot for him and the cause of his trauma, a trauma for which the Minecrafter were responsible and that way something he shared with Nuka. It was the reason why he could connect with him so much, even if the reason for their trauma was entirely different.
Still, there must be some way to encourage him... Nuka thought desperately when suddenly an idea occurred to him.
"Einshine," he began with a gentle voice, leaning against the door and giving him a friendly look, "do you remember what you told me when I apologized for having a... a panic attack while chained up? You told me that I didn't choose to be tortured and killed, and therefore, it's not my fault that I have these issues, right?"
"Yeah? And?" Einshine replied grimly, to which Nuka smiled.
"Well, the same goes for you! You didn't choose to be blinded, right? So don't apologize."
Einshine looked at him for a moment, surprised, but then he smiled, much to Nuka's delight.
"That's not fair, using someone else's words against him," he replied finally, now back in a much more cheerful mood, widening Nuka's grin even more.
"Why not?" he asked innocently. "It's true, after all."
But to his disappointment, Einshine's smile disappeared immediately at these words.
"But he's still right," he muttered, his gaze now back on his feet, "at least with the part that involves the fight against Null..."
"But I can't tell them the truth!" he continued with a vigorous shake of his head, and Nuka felt a pang in his heart as he heard his voice becoming desperate again. "If they know, then... then I can never show my face in the Overworld again! Not when everyone knows that they can easily defeat me if they just take off my mask!"
"It's bad enough that Herobrine knows," he added with a dark look, and Nuka nodded.
"Yeah... that's true," he replied shortly after, thoughtfully turning his gaze back to the Griefer, "but fortunately, you don't have to face this problem anymore."
"What? Why not?" he asked confusedly, to which Nuka just smiled.
"Because you're going to stay here. With me," he replied, causing Einshine to raise his head and look at him with wide eyes.
"Really?!" he exclaimed, surprised, to which Nuka nodded in agreement.
"Yes," he replied before turning his gaze to the window and he felt his heart weigh heavily, "it was Hero's wish for me to stay, but I didn't want to be left alone, so..."
He didn't get any further.
At that moment, a heavy explosion shook the castle making Einshine and him startle and some bottles and plants on Nuka's table to tip over or even fall down, whereupon some of them broke.
"What was that?!" Einshine asked alarmed as he quickly sat up but before Nuka could answer him, a loud, dark laughter suddenly echoed through the castle!
Nuka froze, and he felt a shiver run down his spine.
He knew this laughter.
It was the same laughter they had heard in Melodia back then.
Null's laughter.
A quick look at Einshine's pale face told him that he recognized it too.
"Is that Null?" he whispered hoarsely a moment later, while another explosion made the castle tremble. "But that can't be... how did he find us?"
But Nuka didn't answer him!
Instead, he quickly sat up, with only one thought in his mind, pushing everything else aside!
"I have to get to Hero," he murmured softly before turning around and running as fast as possible through the corridors toward the armory!
(Change of view)
Breathing heavily, Herobrine stood there, leaning his back against a bookshelf, supporting himself with one hand on it, while he stared with a grim look at the dark figure casually standing in the doorway, blocking his way.
He had been looking for Nuka after realizing that Null was the one who had attacked his castle.
He wanted to protect the boy from the scoundrel, which is why he stayed behind giving the others a way to escape through a secret passage, promising that he would follow once he found the boy.
A promise he now realized he couldn't keep, as he clutched Nuka's sword tighter and squinted his eyes to fight the dizziness that had brought him to a halt in the library.
"Hero!" Null shouted a moment later, before taking a few steps forward with a mocking gesture and a satisfied grin. "I didn't expect to ever see you again."
"I'm surpised that you're still alive" he continued without hesitation, causing his smile to drop, and his eyes narrowed to slits. "The last time I saw you, you were lying in a puddle of your own blood, just a few breaths away from death!"
His voice became sharp and threatening with the last words.
Apparently, he seemed quite frustrated about that, but that didn't bother Herobrine; no, quite the opposite.
That was the least he could do to avenge what had been done to him.
"Why are you so surprised?" he sneered contemptuously as he straightened up a bit, gripping the sword tighter before grinning maliciously. "You, of all people, should have known it takes more than just a single stupid blade to take me down!"
"It seems so," Null only grunted softly in response before shrugging and suddenly grinning again.
"But don't worry," he continued, turning to Herobrine, "this time I'll do it right."
But Herobrine only snorted in response.
"Why bother?" he asked grimly without taking his eyes off Null. "We... we will die from the loss of our powers anyway, thanks to you! So, you're just wasting your time!"
"Oh, I know that by now," Null replied simply. "That's why I had actually given up the search for you and your brother. I'm only here to see if you have some books that might be interesting to me."
He smiled.
"But if you insist on running into my arms, I won't say no."
With these words, he raised the staff and assumed a fighting stance, causing Herobrine to tense up, reinforcing his grip on the shelf, knowing what Null intended to do.
However, he was determined not to be easily defeated.
"Do you really use the staff for that?" he asked disdainfully, raising his sword and watching Null with a vigilant gaze, fervently hoping that his plan would work. "Do you really have to hide behind a power that isn't even yours? Can't you fight like a real man?"
But instead of getting angry and attacking him, Null only snorted amusedly.
"Oh, please," he retorted mockingly. "Do you really think I would fall for that? Not even you would do that. Oh, wait," he continued a moment later with a wicked smile, "I forgot that you're a hothead..."
Herobrine clenched his fists upon hearing this!
He couldn't believe that Null had seen through his plan so easily!
But before he could say more, Null started speaking again.
"And why should I make it harder for myself when I have this little thing that can do all the work without hurting myself in the process?" he continued with a brief glance at the staff before turning back to Herobrine, who snorted in response.
"So you're not just a traitor but also a coward?" he asked sneeringly, with a scornful smile, but Null just shrugged.
"No," he replied simply, "I'm just smart."
With these words, he raised the staff again, but Herobrine had no intention of just standing there and accepting his fate like a lamb being led to the slaughter!
No, he would at least try to defend himself!
With these thoughts, he pushed off from the shelf and ran towards Null with a raised sword and a loud scream, hoping to at least give him a small scratch, but he didn't get that far...
A second later, something, through a slight gesture from Null, invisible ripped him off his feet and threw him aside, causing him to crash through several bookshelves until he hit a wall, which made him scream in pain before falling to the ground!
Moaning, Herobrine lay there, half-buried by books and broken wood, trying to get up despite the intense pain in his back, arms, and legs.
But before he could do anything like that, he felt something invisible grab him again, taking away any possibility of movement.
A second later, he was pulled forward, causing him to grit his teeth and groan in pain again before he opened his eyes and looked up at Null, who now stood over him with Nuka's sword in hand.
"That's all it took, really. To catch you and get your powers," he continued shortly thereafter with an indifferent voice, putting a foot on Herobrine's back and aiming the staff at his unprotected back. "All because I unlike you, didn't let my feelings overwhelm me and forgot to thi—"
He didn't get any further.
Before Herobrine knew what was happening, he heard a loud scream, and the next thing he felt was Null's weight disappearing from him.
He was thrown away with a surprised gasp, propelled by an invisible force, and crashed into the nearest bookshelf, immediately buried by several books.
Confused, Herobrine turned his gaze toward the door... and froze as he saw Nuka there, who had his hand outstretched and apparently was responsible for this surprise attack.
The whole body of the boy was trembling, but his face was full of anger, which now disappeared, replaced by paleness—a clear sign of his fear.
However, instead of running away and seeking safety, the boy ran towards him!
"What are you doing here?!" Herobrine snapped at him as soon as he was close enough. "Leave! Now!"
But before Nuka could respond, an angry growl echoed, causing one of the stacks of books to explode, and a rather furious Null emerged from it! However, despite the imminent danger, but the boy still didn't vanish.
Instead, he stood his ground, fists clenched, as...as if he was trying to protect him...
No! You can't do that! Herobrine thought desperately as he anxiously looked back and forth between Nuka and Null. Go! Before he kills you too!
But before he could say anything, Null made a swift hand movement, whereupon Nuka grabbed his throat, emitting a muffled scream, as an invisible force dragged him toward Null!
Null then grab him by the throat himself and slammed him forcefully into a shelf behind him!
"No!" Herobrine managed to weakly shout, condemned to watch helplessly as Nuka coughed and gasped, desperately trying to break free from Null's grip, who showed no intention of letting him go.
"Interesting," Null growled softly, casting a dark gaze at Nuka, who now had tears in his eyes and struggled more desperately for breath. "Very interesting."
"You know what?" he continued, shooting a brief glance at Herobrine a short moment later. "I think we should take this boy with us. There are a few questions I'd like to have answered!"
With these words, his face darkened, and the last thing Herobrine saw was him aiming the staff at Nuka!