The guards on either side of the door moved aside as the young woman approached, one of them pushing the door open for her before stepping out of the way. She gave them a thankful nod. Getting the door herself would have been difficult with her hands full like this.

The bundle that rested over her shoulder, though bulky and wrapped in cloth, was not as heavy as one might expect for a body. Beyond that, it was cold, chilling her even through the layers of fabric between them. The temperature difference was quite noticeable in the heat.

The woman stepped through the doorway and immediately locked eyes with her queen.

"Your majesty." She bowed, as low as she dared with the corpse resting over her shoulder. The queen gave a gentle nod in response.

"You are the one who contacted me?" She asked, her face only faintly visible beneath her veil.

"Yes, your majesty." The young woman confirmed. She stepped forward, making her way towards the circular table that sat between her and the queen, and with a small grunt of exertion she heaved her cargo onto it with a thud.

The queen sat quietly as the woman unwrapped her bundle and revealed what lay inside - the body of a young, piglin man, likely no older than 20 or 25 years of age. His throat was slit, and his pink skin was ashen. The young woman could hear a soft growl from one of the guards.

The queen was silent for a moment longer, studying the corpse. "You killed him, correct?" She finally asked.

"I did- in self defense." The young woman clarified, mindful of the piglin guards lingering behind her. "I was out in a warped forest, leagues from here, no one else around, when all of a sudden he came at me out've the trees. Tried to talk to him but he only growled and lunged. Nothing I could do for him but to put the lad out of his misery." Gracefully, the queen stood, making her way around the curve of the table to get a better look at the young piglin's body.

"Had he any physical abnormalities?" She murmured, resting a gloved hand on the pale forehead only to jerk back her hand in shock. "He's cold."

"Yes, your majesty." The young woman nodded. "That is the only thing I noticed. No foaming at the mouth, no boils or other signs of disease… only growling and groaning, and a sort of vacant stare."

"I see." The queen retracted her hand with a frown, then lifted her gaze from the table. "You've seen this before, haven't you?"

"I have." The sound of a man's voice caught the young woman off guard, and her green eyes flashed up as a man in a dark cloak seemed to melt out of the shadows. His features were obscured by his hood - all but his eyes. Those glowed.

She took a small, halting step back as the cloaked man approached her, focused on the piglin's corpse as he stopped beside the table. Reaching down, he took a hold of the neckline of the piglin's ragged tunic and drew it down to expose his chest. The young woman emitted a hushed gasp when a blackened wound came into view just over his heart.

"Well?" The queen prompted as the man pulled his hand back.

"It's as I feared." The man muttered. "The Aether should be informed immediately."

"Phillip will be here tomorrow, I'll tell him then." The queen said. The man nodded, then turned his blank gaze back to the young woman.

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention, miss…?"

"Alex." The woman supplied.

"Alex." The man gave her a nod. "I regret to impose upon you further, but, would you be willing to mark on a map where you had this encounter?"

"I can do you one better." Alex lifted her chin, squaring her shoulders. "I'll take you there myself."

"Evangeline!" The shout from above made Evangeline lift her head, a grin lighting her face as her best friend swept by and wheeled around to come and land beside her on the bridge.

"You were supposed to meet me back at the barracks," Evangeline scolded as she linked their arms together. "I had to leave without you."

"I was held up." Meryl shrugged as she fell into step with her friend. "Aaron was talking my ear off about a girl who was just swapped into our regiment."

"Hmm." Evangeline hummed thoughtfully. "That boy is lonely." Meryl barked a laugh.

"Well, yes, but I don't mean like that. I mean he wouldn't stop telling me about how someone said something about her that someone else told them, and so on."

"So he's lonely and an incorrigible gossip."

Meryl snapped her fingers with her free hand. "Now you've got it."

The two valkyries walked in silence for a little while, arm in arm, enjoying the mild, sunny weather. Of course they could have flown to their destination, but they were in no hurry, and it was a very pleasant day. It was late summer, meaning that the days were just beginning to cool - not that it ever got that hot there. The change in seasons meant little more than a change in appearance for the foliage across the Aether.

Meryl shifted, then leaned in to murmur, "Has Zenith told you anything more about our trip?" Evangeline sobered slightly and shook her head.

"Not yet. He said he would explain further once we've arrived."

"Not that that's cryptic at all…" Meryl murmured. Evangeline was inclined to agree.

They were going to the Nether.

Two days ago, Evangeline's commander, Phillip Zenith, had traveled there for one of his routine visits with the Queen of the Nether. His return, however, was anything but routine, as he was visibly distressed and called Evangeline to him immediately for an audience. He'd told her that she and Meryl would be accompanying him back there shortly, but beyond that he'd said very little.

"If it's just us - and it seems to be-" Meryl went on. "-do you think it's related to…?" Her hand lifted absently to press over her chest, and she didn't have to finish for Evangeline to know who she spoke of.

"Sirben." It had been just over forty years since their encounter with him, a traitorous valkyrie who had murdered Meryl and pinned the blame on Evangeline. He had sought to build an army of undead, 'zombies' as he called them, from the corpses of the valkyries that he had slaughtered. It was only because of this plot that Meryl still lived today, as Evangeline had been able to revive her from her half-dead state thanks to the healing properties of a golden apple.

He had been defeated, his followers imprisoned and many executed, but Sirben himself had managed to escape into the Nether - and, though not for lack of trying, he had yet to be found. Evangeline hoped that he had managed to stumble into a lava lake or something equally lethal, but they were unlikely to be so lucky.

"It could be." She finally said. "You and I are… the experts on him, I suppose." Them and one other.

They reached the highest point of the bridge, and the Nether portal came into view.

Evangeline was silent as they approached it, her gaze transfixed on the swirling, purple surface. The technology for keeping a Nether portal stable in the Aether was a fairly recent development, based on the portal erected in Sirben's hideout that had allowed him to make his escape. Now, focused on the golden runes along the frame of the portal, Evangeline couldn't help but remember the last time she had seen it.

A soft voice, warm hand, lips pressing against the backs of her fingers before he turned away and…

Evangeline forced the memories away. As it turned out, her heartbreak had never really faded, only dulled to a level at which she could function in her day-to-day life. Forty years, and she still missed him, still remembered vividly the feeling of his lips on hers as he professed that he didn't love her.

He had vanished into the nether as well, forbidding her to follow. Just like Sirben, Evangeline doubted she would ever see him again unless he wanted to be seen.

In an effort to turn her thoughts away from him, Evangeline spoke up again. "Commander Zenith said that since he's gone on ahead already, the queen will have sent someone to the portal to escort us to the castle."

"Good." Meryl looked relieved as she nodded. "I was not looking forward to flying aimlessly around the Nether on our own."

"Oh, surely not." They came up to the portal, and Evangeline released her friend's arm to step ahead. "I'll go first?" She offered. Meryl gestured for her to go ahead, and Evangeline took a deep breath before stepping up and plunging into the portal.

Traveling between dimensions was always an interesting experience. For a split second, it seemed as though the air grew heavy around her, clinging to her hair and skin and clothes like water. There was the distinct sensation of being hurled through space, though her mind told her that she had taken only a single step - and then it was over and she was stepping out onto the reddish stone on the other side.

Evangeline stepped away from the portal, turning around and waiting for Meryl to stumble through behind her. Only once she had appeared did Evangeline turn, scanning their landing site for any sign of the queen's escort.

She found him easily enough. On the right side of the platform stood a man in a dark cloak, who began to approach as her eyes fell on him.

"I've been instructed to lead you to the castle." He told them as he came to a stop before them. "Come with me, please."

"Thank you," Meryl said. Evangeline said nothing, having gone stiff with shock the moment the man had spoken. Her wide-eyed gaze was focused on what little of his face wasn't hidden by his hood, her mind replaying the words that he had just spoken over and over again. No, surely not…

"Herobrine?" She whispered. The man didn't respond for a long moment.

Finally, he sighed, reaching up and lowering his hood to reveal long, dark hair and blank eyes that hesitantly met hers. "Hello, Evangeline."

me: I'm gonna take some time now that I've finished FAF to work on my other WIPs
Narrator voice: She did not

Ok ok ok listen I swear. I will be working on the others in the meantime. I just felt Bad leaving these two separated and also I'm excited! Don't ask me how often this will be updated cause idk

also someone let me know when FFN's image manager is working again :/

~FFF