Author's Note: Hello, guys! Welcome to the next chapter of this story!

I had a little writer's block on this one, but I think it came out nicely!

Enjoy!

The next morning came without much trouble from the mobs of the night. The battalions of knights around Creatoria had watched and patrolled, but little happened that needed swords to stop. The sun began to rise over the horizon, painting the skies in shades of yellow, orange, and very light reds and blues. A few fluffy square clouds floated above the kingdom, and the hostile mobs that remained began to burn in the safe rays of the morning sun. A slight breeze accompanied the beginning of the day.

Within the walls of the Creatoria castle, the king and queen laid in their shared bed as the stained glass windows tinted the light of the sun. The warmth streaming through was enough to land on Celina's face, gently waking her. Celina let out a small noise, before slowly opening her gray eyes. Her eyelids fluttered open as a soft smile spread across her features.

Waking up to the rays of the sun was always a nice thing for the queen, and she was always one to rise with the light. She carefully sat up in the bed, her blanket falling from her shoulders. Celina smiled and hummed in content and she swung her legs over the side of the bed. She stepped onto the floor, putting her feet into her slippers. The queen took her crown and placed it on her head as she moved towards the door.

The rays of the sun streaming through the stained glass panes warmed the human's face as she stepped downstairs into the grand hall of the castle. She could hear the sounds of the knights roaming the streets and people beginning to move into their morning routines.

Celina watched some of the golems and knights below as they moved onto the gravel streets, before the sounds of creaking metal came from behind her. She turned on her heels to see Irona entering through the main doors.

The queen smiled. "Morning, Irona!"

The golem moved her red eyes to the queen and grinned. "Good morning, You Highness. How did you sleep?"

"I slept well, thank you for asking." Celina shifted a bit, her hands clasped. "How was the patrol last night? Anything eventful?"

Irona placed a hand to her hip. "Nothing really, my queen. Mostly just silence throughout the night, with the occasional passive mob wandering about. But… have you talked to Brine at all since last night?"

Celina's smile fell a bit and she shook her head. "No, the last time I talked to him was before he went to bed last night. Why do you ask?"

The golem sighed softly. "Brine came to me last night, before the sun rose. He said he had a bad dream last night and… it seemed to have shaken him. He didn't want to really speak about it, so I offered him to patrol with me for a bit to clear his mind." She tilted her head. "I don't know what kind of dream he had, but I've never seen him so terrified of a nightmare before."

The queen thought for a moment after Irona had finished. "You know… Brine has never had a nightmare since he's been in the kingdom. He tends to have very vivid dreams, but never nightmares." She frowned in concern. "And he didn't say what happened in it?"

Irona shook her head. "No, he seemed to be too scared from whatever he dreamed about."

That was strange, very strange. Brine wasn't afraid of many things in this world, and the queen knew this well. For something to have scared him in a mere dream, it must have been awful or reminded him of his past.

Celina found her brows furrowing in concern. She looked into Irona's bright red eyes and asked, "Where did you last see him?"

"I believe he said he was going to head to the training grounds to clear his mind. We talked last night while he was with me, but I'm sure doing some training will help him with his thoughts."

The human nodded. "I'll get dressed and go see if I can find him. Thank you for helping him, I'm sure he really appreciates it."

The golem grinned. "It's no trouble, Your Highness. Please do let me know how he's doing."

Another stone block cracked from the force hitting it, before it fell apart and crumbled to the ground. Brine watched as it did so, shaking his hand with his brows furrowed. He then waved a hand and the pieces vanished in the blink of an eye. The Demi-Deity sighed softly. "Well, at least I can do that well."

After speaking with Irona during the night, Brine had stayed up through the rest. He had mostly wandered around the kingdom and when the sun rose, he had been invited to the training grounds by a few of the knights. While most of them were practicing their swordsmanship or aim with their bows on scarecrows, Brine had decided to test how much strength he truly had.

So far it seemed that he could definitely punch through most things. Brine had never really doubted his own strength, considering all the destruction he had seen himself do over the tens of thousands of years he had ruled over the mobs.

Before he met Celina, Brine had ruled over the monsters and kept the world in terror of his wrath. He had gone after humans in that time, considering a whole kingdom of them had betrayed him before his rule. He had kept an iron grip on the mobs of the night, and they had dragged down many in his honor and under his command. But Brine himself was by far one of the most powerful beings in the land. He had literally destroyed whole kingdoms and armies with his own two hands, and mountains had even fallen before his anger.

But now that he lived in peace and with his human friends, Brine knew he was powerful. He doubted his strength had faded at all due to his more meek lifestyle, but it never hurt to test it out. Seems like nothing had changed as far as that power.

"Brine?"

The Demi-Deity was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice call his name. He turned on his heels and there was a young person with bright clothes and a crown. Brine smiled, speaking with, "Good morning, Celina. How are you?"

The queen beamed and walked over to him, clasping her hands together. "I'm well, my friend. I woke up not that long ago. What are you up to?"

Brine chuckled. "Just a little testing of my strength, my queen. I've just been seeing what I can break to make sure I still have my powers." He waved a hand at the fence post where the stone block had been, another block appearing in its place. A block of iron now sat upon the wood. Brine gestured for Celina to stand back, before he reeled his arm back and slammed a fist into the block. A loud clanging noise rang through the air, before the block fell to the ground in two pieces, having been snapped in half in an instant.

Celina watched the pieces fall, before looking up at Brine with great awe. He had his brows furrowed a bit, and his hand slowly uncurled. She blinked a few times, before stating, "I can't even think of anything you can't break, Brine. Though, I've never seen you crack apart a block of metal like that before."

Brine turned his gaze to her and gave her a playful glare. "Are you doubting my powers, Celina?"

She chuckled. "No, I've just never seen you do that specifically. It's quite impressive." Remembering the topic she had wanted to ask Brine about, Celina's smile fell. "Brine, did you sleep at all last night?"

The being's face went pale and he averted his gaze after realizing Irona usually returned to the castle in the mornings. There was little uncertainty in his mind that she had told Celina about his awakening in the night. Brine frowned and knitted his brows in worry. "I did," he started. "But then I awoke and wasn't able to fall back asleep."

The queen nodded. "Irona told me that you had a bad dream last night. And that it seemed to shake you up pretty badly. Do you… do you need to talk about it, Brine?"

Brine tensed up at her words, and the repeaters in his head began clicking. He really didn't want to talk about it, considering it was the first nightmare he had had in so long.

But at the same time, Celina was his best friend. She understood him and probably knew him better than he knew himself. It wouldn't hurt to talk about it with someone he trusted and loved so dearly.

Brine turned his head back to the queen and sighed very softly. "I had a dream about… another being. One that had… white eyes, like myself. I don't remember their face, I don't even remember their clothes. I can only remember their silhouette and… their weapon. Their weapon looked like a scythe made of diamond." He began to tremble as he spoke further. "I remember pain, I remember weakness, and I–I… I remember hearing you and Steve scream. Then… I was trapped. And those eyes–they were the last thing I saw before I woke up." He shook his head. "I can't remember where we were or what was going on around us, but… it scared me enough to wake me up."

Celina could hear a wavering in Brine's voice as he continued, and by the time he finished, she saw how much this had rattled him. The queen rarely ever saw Brine be scared of anything, if at all. He was one of the most powerful beings in the Overworld, and the very idea of him being not just scared, but terrified; it almost didn't make sense in her mind.

Celina noticed Brine putting his hands on his arms, as if he was cold. But then she saw him close his white eyes and take shaking breaths. The human quickly placed a hand on his right shoulder and he looked down at her.

"Brine," she started in a kind voice. "I don't know what that dream could have meant, or what happened in it. But I do know one thing: that you're a powerful hero and that you can do almost anything and everything. If that dream was really a sign of something, I know that any danger we could be in will be stopped. You're strong, Brine, and I know you'd do anything to protect us. And I have always promised to protect you. I will do so until my dying breath, and I would imagine you'd do the same until the end of my life." Celina could see Brine give her a soft nod. "So, don't worry too much about it. I'm sure it was just a bad dream. But if it turns out to be more than that, I know we can stop whatever comes our way. We stopped Glistenia before, so I highly doubt there's anything we can't stop together."
The Demi-Deity's soft frown turned into a gentle smile and he turned to hold onto the queen's hands. He gave them a small squeeze and chuckled. "Thank you, my queen. You don't know how much your kind words always mean to me to hear. You're my best friend, and I know you'll always be there for me. I'll always try to do the same for you."

Celina nodded. "And I believe that. I know you never break your promises to me, Brine. And I'll never break mine to you."

Brine beamed and pulled his friend into an embrace, resting his chin on her head. She patted his back, and when they broke the hug, she gestured towards the castle. "How about you come back to the castle, Brine? I was going to make breakfast for us all."

The being smiled and nodded. "That sounds lovely. I'll follow your lead."

Cenlar looked up as the doors to the throne room in the Creatoria castle opened. He could see a young woman in bright clothes and a crown enter, along with the white eyed legend he had come to call a friend. The king grinned. "There you guys are! I was wondering where you two were."

Celina giggled. "Morning, Cen. I had gone to find Brine this morning, and I found him at the training grounds. Sorry for not telling you where I went, but I didn't want to wake you up just yet."

"No need to apologize, my queen," Cenlar told her with a little wave of his left hand. "I'm just glad that you weren't too far and that Brine was with you." The young king then moved to a nearby table and sat down.

Brine followed Cenlar's lead and sat down as Celina moved to a nearby crafting table to start breakfast. He smiled softly as he watched her. He'd be damned if Celina didn't always know how to make him feel better. She was someone he loved dearly, and he never would have imagined she'd change him so much and help him become a more human person. And Brine promised himself to protect her for everything she'd done for him.

And he'll do just that.

Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed! I love writing Brine and Celina's friendship! :)