Chapter 33: Unbearable Heat
The first thing he felt was immense heat. The second thing that came upon him was nausea. The next thing he felt was a strong, immobilizing pressure abruptly settling upon his body.
It was almost like the air had been sucked out of his lungs as he was pulled through the open portal, with practically nothing present on the other side to replace it. As his legs refused to move and his head began to spin, Steve found that he couldn't catch his breath, causing him to panic as his vision blurred. Though a voice attempted to draw his focus, it failed as his ears rang with a high-pitched noise that he only ever remembered experiencing something similar to after being attacked by a creeper. Looking up, he saw a blurry haze of reds and oranges, with a distant splotch of grey that just barely caught his attention before he began to focus more on his breathing, panicking as his lungs struggled to draw more air in. In his confusion, he dropped down to the ground, which only served to make his breathing somehow even worse with the abrupt movement.
Why was it so hot? Why did it feel like his body was being crushed? Why couldn't he breathe?
He only vaguely recognized the sensation of hands being placed upon his shoulders for a few seconds before the reds and oranges in his vision suddenly vanished, leaving him with nothing but darkness and a blurry figure in front of him. Slowly realizing that fabric had been placed around both him and the person in front of him, Steve fought to get himself back together, only to find that his current condition wasn't getting any better in the slightest.
"St...n, listen to me!"
The ringing in his ears had slowly begun to fade away, much to his thankfulness. The sounds that came to him soon after were mostly foreign to him, but the two things that he was able to recognize fairly well were the sounds of lava popping relatively nearby and Herobrine's voice.
Finding the demigod directly in front of him wasn't all that surprising, but realizing that it was him who was underneath the fabric as well, which he soon suspected had to be the other's cape, slightly made him panic even further. Though his vision was still blurry with both emotions and tears, he tried to escape the other, finding himself rather unsuccessful.
"Steven, what did I just say?! Listen! Just listen!" Herobrine's voice was firm and commanding, but the slightest bit of genuine panic slipped into the other's tone for a split second.
As Herobrine gave him a quick jolt of the shoulders, Steve nodded, looking to the other in desperation as he struggled to breathe and see clearly.
"You need to listen to me. I want you to look at me. Take a breath for four or five seconds. Hold your breath for...say, seven seconds. Then release for eight. Watch me as you do it, alright? Now."
Sensing the urgency in the other's voice and not particularly wanting to find out what would happen if he didn't comply, Steve attempted to do as the other said, struggling for a moment or two before he finally managed to take in deeper breaths. The more and more he did this, the easier it was for him to breathe, finally allowing his vision to become clearer.
Though he hesitated to look up, he was met with the sight of worried silver eyes staring back at him. As he tried to ignore the feeling of the world around him essentially squeezing him to death, he focused more on the other in front of him, attempting to force his breathing back into a steady rhythm. The other's hair was messier, no doubt thanks to the fact that they'd just traveled through a portal and were now sitting on the ground with a cape placed over their heads, which was rubbing against his hair and shifting it out of place. Even when he could fully see the silver in the demigod's eyes, there was the faintest of glows still present, which only made him suspect that no matter what the other did about said glow, he couldn't completely get rid of it. He soon realized that his focus had always been so set upon Herobrine's eyes that he really, truly, didn't even pay much attention to the other small details on the rest of his face, including the small bags that he could now see beneath the man's eyes.
As he quietly examined the demigod and focused less attention on manually breathing, Herobrine nodded slowly in approval of his actions.
"I should've warned you more about this. It didn't even come across to me that you'd have a bad reaction to the atmosphere here. Just...steady your breathing, and all should be fine. You'll get acclimated to things, and we can move forward. Take your time." Herobrine said in a slightly rushed, gentle voice.
Confused, Steve attempted speaking.
"But...w-"
Herobrine interrupted him with a shake of his head.
"No speaking. Control your breathing first. I moved you away from the structure of the portal, we're safe here. Even if we hadn't moved, I doubt that those fools would've lasted long enough to chase us if you're struggling like this. You can relax if that's what you were going to speak up about."
It hurt a bit to nod, but Steve did so anyways, taking a moment to collect himself better as the other provided a chance for him to do so. It was strangely cooler underneath the fabric of the other's cape, but despite that, he was still rather confused about why he'd spontaneously decided to place it around them both. Catching his wandering gaze, Herobrine let out a sigh.
"...Didn't want you to get overwhelmed with the Nether. Would've made your breathing worse." He began in a quiet manner. "...Also, I wanted you to be slowly introduced to the heat, so I made a space to do that. I'll gradually make it get hotter, just...allow it to happen."
Herobrine took a moment to let the words register within the miner's head before his gaze narrowed into a slight scowl.
"Don't say a word about this. My actions are for your survival, not your amusement. Don't take them for granted."
Not finding even the slightest amount of energy to do such a thing, Steve remained silent.
Over the course of a few minutes, the air beneath the cape grew hotter and hotter as Steve allowed his breathing to settle into something he didn't really have to worry about, and before he knew it, the heat around him was only mostly uncomfortable instead of something outright unbearable. Looking up to the other with a stronger gaze, Herobrine slowly removed his hands from his shoulders, moving away slowly as he soon lifted his cape from above them and removed it.
As the cape went back to hang against the other's body, Steve found the reds and oranges soon returning to the space around them, leading him to discover their new location in all of its terrifying glory. It was almost a mocking sight, to find the images of hills and sparse trees around them, only to realize that these weren't exactly the kinds of hills and trees he was used to seeing. Overgrown, massive mushrooms and piles of rocks were more what he'd describe them as, appearing quite uninviting the longer he stared at them. It appeared and felt like they were stuck in a massive cave beyond which any he'd ever seen before, but the more he processed his surroundings, the more he began to doubt if there was really any sort of sky to dig out to at all. The same rocky texture that was solid against his feet crawled everywhere, even to the distant surfaces up above that he was struggling to describe as being a "ceiling." Rather close by them, he found the shocking sight of a massive pool of lava that seemed to push and pull against the nearby gravel-covered beach. The more he tried to find the opposite end of the pool, the more solidly he came to the conclusion that this "pool" was actually an ocean. Looking more to his side, he found the portal that they'd just entered the space from, still lit. Curiously, however, what he didn't find was Andvari, Malgun, or Constiere, much to his confusion.
Looking back to the demigod, Steve decided to test out his ability to speak once again.
"Where's...where are the others?" He asked cautiously, watching the demigod's expression turn into one of slight annoyance as he forced his voice out.
"...They didn't follow my lead. We're the only ones who made it through the portal. For what reason, I'm not sure, but...ugh. We'll connect with them soon enough. We just need to wait things out, I believe." Herobrine explained, his voice laced with slight hurt.
The news that the mob generals hadn't followed them into the strange dimension genuinely surprised Steve. Granted, now that he knew how unsettling and unwelcoming the place seemed to be, he wouldn't have chosen to come in on his own either, but the thing was, they weren't given a choice. They were given a command, and yet, they disobeyed the one who gave it to them. They'd unknowingly given Steve a strange, unfortunate opportunity to be alone with the demigod, and despite him wanting to spend more time getting to know the other, he'd much rather prefer such a thing to happen when his lungs weren't really collapsing in on themselves.
Nodding slightly at the demigod's words, Steve continued to glance around the area, finding his attention being drawn toward the distant mushroom "trees" that he couldn't help but ponder to himself about.
"So...this...this is the Nether?" Steve's voice came out in a small whisper, his shock soon catching up with him.
Herobrine nodded, his gaze growing with some slight fondness that the miner hadn't seen before.
"...Yes. Unfortunately, it had to be introduced to you a bit early under unsatisfactory conditions, but at least we know that you can enter it rather safely."
Before he could find his growing set of questions falling rapidly out of his mouth, Steve nodded before looking downward at his hands.
"...Thanks for helping me."
Herobrine let out a hum before leaving the other in silence, which was only slightly less uncomfortable than the heat that had swallowed them. After a moment or so, Steve turned to look at the lava again, hoping to distract himself from taking more nervous glances at their surroundings and at the demigod in front of him.
Finding Steve focusing his sights on the lava ocean, Herobrine sighed.
"We'll have to go back through that portal. This isn't an ideal starting point for us, and we're separated from the others."
Steve looked back at the other, taking a moment to collect himself and the strength of his voice before speaking his mind.
"...Don't mind me asking, but can't we...can't we find another portal and get out through that one, since people who want to hurt us are waiting on the other side of the one we just used? Maybe? Is that how dimensional travel works?..." He asked, his voice a bit stronger than before.
Herobrine shook his head.
"...Somewhat." The man paused. "...Three feet taken here would be about twenty-four back in the Overworld. I've had the time to measure such a thing. We'd lose the others fast, depending on how long it takes for us to find another portal. It'd be better for us to simply escape from here instead of risking everything to find another. I don't think I can teleport the two of us without issue."
Steve let out a disappointed sigh.
"Yeah. I kind of figured that out when you chose to drag me in here instead of...y'know…"
Herobrine turned away from the other and dragged a palm down his face in a moment of exasperation.
"...My mind is not in the best place at the moment."
Steve nodded slowly.
"I know that too." Steve paused, debating the idea of continuing his thoughts before deciding to throw caution to the wind while he still had the other's attention. "...I've known that since you came and rescued me from the festival. I've known since you told everybody that I was your champion."
As Herobrine threw a quick glance his way that suggested an oncoming accusation, Steve turned to glare at him.
"Don't look at me like that! You've been trying to rush your way to a solution, and we've all been able to do nothing but hold on for the ride and hope that you bring us somewhere! You got caught off-guard, sure, but that's not an excuse to get so...rash about it!"
Herobrine returned the glare.
"What do you mean, 'off-guard?'"
Steve rolled his eyes before continuing.
"Brine. Julian. He ambushed us, and you got surprised by the fact that he went after me first instead of you. Ever since then, you've been freaking out about it without really saying anything about it directly, and now you're trying to get us to do whatever's on your checklist before anybody can surprise you again. You're not thinking things out properly. It's obvious."
He didn't know exactly what overcame him, but whatever frustration that he'd hidden away suddenly came bubbling up to the surface, spilling out from his lips as the fear that was growing within him due to being placed in such a strange place came along with it. He'd not only been given a potential opportunity to get to know the other better, but one that could be used to finally confront the man by voicing his silent thoughts and bottled anger.
Herobrine scowled at him in a defensive manner.
"I'm not-"
"-Does this look like a well-thought-out decision to you?!" Steve gestured to the area around them.
Herobrine froze as he looked out to the area around them, slowly processing the miner's words as his momentary anger began to subside.
…
He knew Steve was right.
With an expression that only revealed guilt through the demigod's eyes, Herobrine looked back to Steve.
"...No. It does not."
Standing up and stepping away from the other, Herobrine moved slightly toward the nearby portal before halting completely in his approach, looking forward with an almost blank expression.
"...It really doesn't."
Steve watched quietly as the other slowly looked down at his palms, studying them for longer than what he would deem as necessary before letting out a small sigh.
"...I'm sorry."
Herobrine's words were so softly spoken that he'd nearly missed them entirely.
"...You're sorry for what, exactly?" Steve asked quietly in return.
"...As many things that I need to apologize properly for. I just gambled with your life right now, but...there's more, really, now that you've reminded me. I forced us to take a risk by making the endermen teleport us closer to Lunarus. I, of course, robbed you of your mortal innocence by revealing our alliance to a large audience. I abused my powers when I should've been relaxing so that I'd be able to properly use them after the potion wore off, instead of pushing myself to the edge in an attempt to gain an advantage. I failed to guarantee us safe passage through Merry Glade by allowing my anger to get the best of me. I put you in danger. I put all of you in danger. I've been jeopardizing the mission, and for what?"
Steve wasn't exactly expecting for the other to actually admit anything fully, but now that apologies were spilling out from Herobrine's mouth, he was completely shocked.
"...You're being sincere?" Steve hesitantly asked for confirmation.
Herobrined looked back at him with an expression filled with hurt, which he also wasn't expecting.
"What makes you think that it's easy to admit this? That I was being a fool?" He said, his voice edging on being a bit more forced out.
Steve shrugged, trying to figure out how to approach the situation without making Herobrine any more confrontational than what he was willing to deal with.
"I...I'm making sure. You're not really that direct with me all the time, and I-"
"-I'm trying to be, alright?!"
The other's sudden outburst silenced him.
As Herobrine realized what exactly had left his mouth, a groan escaped him as he went to hold his head in his hands.
"...I realized it after I woke up. After I was attacked. You said something beforehand that struck me in a way that made me realize how...how idiotic I was being. My entire body conflicted with this, but I kept it in mind regardless. You...you comforted me. I was dying, and you wanted me to be free of the pain. When you admitted that, I...I made up my mind. I want to speak to you with more directness. That's all."
Though Herobrine was certainly struggling to admit such a thing to the miner, Steve couldn't help but find himself in awe that he even managed to get that far.
Steve nodded at his words.
"...I get it. That's okay, as long as you're trying. I was just...trying to make sure you were not saying those things to just make me happy."
Herobrine let out a small scoff as he walked back to the other, moving to sit down in front of him once again.
"...Of course not."
Letting the sound of the world around them fill the silence for a bit, Herobrine continued after he briefly debated with himself.
"...We could've been wrong about the tolerance to the portal, but we weren't, and that's the only thing I don't want to apologize for...but I'm apologizing for it anyways. You could've been hurt or killed just now. I gambled our last resort for the sake of stupidity. I'm sorry."
Though Steve wanted to forgive the other entirely, he found that his lips weren't making any effort to move or make a response, leaving him with the option to merely stare at the other and leave him in silence. Surprisingly enough, that silence was effecting him somewhat, as the slight waver of the other's eyes indicated briefly. Even though the demigod wouldn't admit it, it was clear that he, in some capacity, was genuinely starting to allow the miner to have some serious impact upon his emotions.
Looking over to the portal only after finding himself unable to bear the silent judgment of Steve's gaze any longer, Herobrine sighed.
"...We'll wait for a moment for them to somewhat spread out, if my other intuitions are correct. Then we'll sneak out."
"...If your other intuitions are correct?"
Herobrine nodded, visibly thankful that the miner had finally spoken to him again.
"If Andvari, Malgun, and Constiere aren't with us, they likely either remained hidden, or teleported away, despite my wishes otherwise. The people back there would've likely gone after them if they haven't attempted to come through the portal. That, or they think we're dead. I'm hoping that they're more on the idiotic side of things."
Steve let out a small hum as he looked back at the portal as well, before turning his attention back toward the gravel beach. Both him and Herobrine allowed the ambiance of the world around them to fill in the silence for a few moments, right before Herobrine's eyes lit up slightly in realization.
Herobrine turned to look Steve in the eyes, his gaze growing slightly curious as he examined them. After waiting for the other to finish, Steve found himself somewhat confused as Herobrine took longer than he expected to respond.
"...You did survive…" Came his strange conclusion.
Steve blinked in slight confusion.
"...Survive what?..."
"I mean, you survived entering the Nether. Do you feel the pressure around you anymore? The sheer force of magic caving into your body?"
As Steve was reminded of the feeling that he received upon stepping into the strange realm, he suddenly realized that, in fact, he hadn't been feeling the air around him all that much. In fact, he'd almost completely forgotten that it had been nearly suffocating him just several minutes prior. The only thing that was really having an impact on him was the uncomfortable heat, which he was beginning to believe was slowly cooking him alive.
Steve shook his head.
"...I-I don't think so?..."
Herobrine looked at him with added interest.
"We were right with our hypothesis. I've seen plenty of humans try to force their way in here, only to drop dead the minute they set foot upon the netherrack."
"That's not very comforting to know, Brine." Steve said, a bit of disgust appearing on his face.
"You're alive, though. I...I believe your eyes really are an indicator of whether or not you can breach the Nether."
A sudden expression of further realization appeared on Herobrine's face as the brief grin that grew on his face vanished.
"...Your eyes are violet."
A look of surprise appeared on Steve's face.
"My ey-how did you not notice that until now?" He asked, raising a brow at the other.
Herobrine looked at him with a serious expression.
"Steven. We're a bit of a distance away from the portal. At the very least, there should be some magic or something in them. They're completely violet."
Thinking over the other's worried words, Steve found himself slightly confused.
"...So, what does that imply, exactly? Something dangerous?"
Herobrine continued to stare at him with deep concern.
"...I think this means that whatever caused your eyes to become afflicted originated from here."
The news that came from the other's mouth wasn't exactly the most comforting thing he wanted to hear.
To know that something from this hot, hellish world was currently residing within his body wasn't ideal. He'd been trying to convince both himself and others that whatever was happening to him was due to potion side-effects, but the more he thought back to the day he'd been appointed, the more he tried to focus primarily on what exactly the man he'd trusted sliced him with.
It did seem rather foreign. If Selwyn had been the one to bring it to him, it must've had some unique properties that caught her interest, and who's to say that those properties weren't magical, in a way? The information that he received from the other champions he met made it clear that it might've been that strange object that gave them all the strange eye color due to it being the common denominator between their stories, but why? Was it an ore native to the Nether? A strange, magical artifact that had been passed from place to place, generation to generation? Did Herobrine know anything about it, perhaps?
"Doesn't...doesn't magic have something to do with it?" He asked hesitantly, hoping that the other would give him some sort of a definitive answer.
"Simple magic would've only reacted to the portal and nothing more. I'm only suspecting Nethren magic in particular because your eyes should've remained vibrant when we stepped away from the portal, if it was only simple magic. Whatever caused your condition has to be Nethren."
Though he wanted the confirmation, he didn't necessarily have to like it, did he?
Feeling a bit anxious about the idea even though he'd been living with it well enough, Steve began to slightly panic. Once Herobrine caught the worry in his eyes, however, his own concerned expression fell away as a kind of firmness replaced it.
"It won't kill you, Steven. If it even had the ability to, you would've been dead already. The Nether is vicious, and so is its magic." Herobrine reassured him.
"...Everything that you say to make me feel better has a side-effect, y'know that?"
Standing up and stepping away from the demigod in an attempt to collect his breathing again before it could spiral out of control, Steve began to walk toward the portal they came from. Letting out a sigh, he stopped just a few feet in front of it, staring at the swirling wall of mystical purple as it nearly hypnotized him.
"...Should we go back now? How long do you think it'd take for them to leave us alone? Does time move differently in the Nether, too?"
The idea left his mouth before he could even ponder it, soon leading to panic.
"...Are we gonna step out of this thing and find out that everybody from my village is dead?!" Steve worriedly turned to look at Herobrine, who had followed close behind him.
The demigod rolled his eyes.
"...No. Time, unfortunately, does not differ all that much between the Nether and the Overworld. If it did, I'd have waited out the end of humanity in here."
With a sigh of relief, Steve went back to staring at the portal as the other continued.
"I'll say ten more minutes, Steven. We've given them enough time to come through the portal frame and discuss things, so they'll hopefully run off by then."
Nodding, Steve continued to stand wordlessly in front of the portal, staring intently as the magic of the frame danced effortlessly before him. It wasn't the most effective way of spending ten minutes, but given what was revealed to him, he was hoping that it would distract his brain long enough for him to get to a place where he could safely lose his mind.
Stepping out from the Nether portal felt like being dragged from a bowl of hardened slime mixed with dense pudding, only to suddenly feel like he was walking on air.
As Steve stepped out of the portal, following closely after Herobrine, he nearly fell flat on his face as he was met with the suddenly lighter air pressure, making him feel as if he were made of clouds. His limbs felt lighter, and his chest finally felt like it could allow him to properly breathe, with nothing closing in on him as a threat. Though he stumbled on the way out, he, nevertheless, felt nothing but thankfulness as the Overworld lovingly embraced him back into its arms. That thankfulness melted away once he remembered the situation they were in, however, leading to a quiet groan leaving his lips.
Herorbrine rushed to place a hand around his mouth as the groan left him, taking a moment to examine the silence around them before releasing him from his grip. As Herobrine stepped away and continued the journey to the cellar stairway, Steve gave him a quick glare, opening his mouth to speak until the demigod quickly interrupted him.
"Nobody's in the building, thankfully. They really did leave." Herobrine announced.
Steve let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, that's-"
"-Not where I'm leaving off. There are guards placed at both entrances. Something that they're each carrying is giving off a pulse, though based on the weakness of each, I'm willing to bet that they're only enchanted weapons-"
"-Not blessed, right?" Steve asked with slight concern, interrupting the other.
Herobrine nodded his head.
"Not strong enough to suggest it..."
As the two fell into silence again, Herobrine began to walk off, though he froze abruptly just seconds after he started. Quite briskly, he turned around to approach the portal, took a deep breath, and began to work on dismantling it where it stood, albeit in a slightly more discreet manner than the other times he performed the action.
"...It's still active, Brin-" Steve attempted to speak.
"-I know." Was all that came out from Herobrine's mouth in response.
Stopping his attempt for a quick second, Herobrine threw a ball of dense flame at the surface of the portal, breaking the magic wall between it before resuming his destructive actions. The portal was a bit too large for him to properly dismantle in a quiet manner, but as the frame gave way, he, very briefly, tried to desperately scramble to hold several large pieces of it as it slowly came loose. Once the portal finally collapsed properly, it made a somewhat startling loud noise as it fell, though the full damage was kept minimal as Herobrine guided its destruction. The two waited for any outside alarm to sound out, whether it be by a voice or the sound of an opening door, but nothing, thankfully, came.
Even more relieved yet still a bit unsettled, Steve began to follow the other as he left to walk up the stairway, then out of the cellar as the two carefully made their way to the main floor. Though Herobrine kept careful watch of their surroundings, Steve found himself becoming slightly more unnerved, for reasons he couldn't exactly quite place.
Suddenly, Herobrine stopped in his tracks once again as they approached the main curtain hallway of the building, which was a bit less organized than before.
"...There's...a third?" He said in a somewhat confused manner.
Steve looked at him worriedly.
"Wait, there is someone out here?!" He whispered a bit harshly, though he was met with a brief shake of the head.
"I don't...I feel a pulse, but I don't feel anything with it. I don't hear anything with it, so it may just be something on its own."
"...Did you feel it when we came in? With just you, Constiere, and me?"
Herobrine thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"Sometimes, being in the Nether for a bit and coming back out is like a palette cleanser, of some sort. You get so used to the concentration of magic there, that when you come back out to the Overworld, anything similar to it becomes more noticeable."
"So...what do you feel?"
Quietly, Herobrine led him around another curtain, finding that within the room they were in, a lot of curtains were drawn back, almost as if they were nearly torn from their locations in a fit of rage.
Looking around carefully, Herobrine soon separated from him, leaving him in the silent room for a minute or two in a way that made it seem like he was searching for something. He soon returned with what appeared to be a small chest in his hands, holding it carefully.
Catching the miner's interest, Herobrine glanced down to the box.
"The pulse is coming from here. I felt it."
As Steve firmly laid his eyes upon the small box, they widened in shock as a sense of familiarity suddenly overcame him.
He'd seen this type of mahogany before. He'd seen the small, intricate patterns that had been carved into the wood, though briefly. If he had a guess, he knew exactly what was in that box, but he was beginning to desperately hope that he was wrong.
Herobrine caught his widened gaze.
"...Is this something you recognize?" He asked, gently.
Looking back up at the demigod, Steve hesitantly nodded.
"Y-yes. I don't...I don't think it's the same box, but I…"
"What same box?" Herobrine pressed him a bit forward as his words trailed off.
Steve said nothing further as his words failed him, making Herobrine curious enough to finally open the box. To Steve's dismay, inside the box was what appeared to be a small shard, one that was quite similar to the piece that was used by his Elder on him. However, this shard had a small, wooden handle improperly attached to it. Upon seeing the shard for himself, Herobrine immediately shut the box, holding it a bit tighter as he tried to collect his sudden, rampant thoughts.
It took quite a while for the demigod to finally look up and meet his gaze, but once he did, Steve found nothing but sheer horror within his eyes. It reflected upon the other's face as well, making the miner feel even worse about the situation. Instead of an explanation of any kind, Herobrine slowly backed away from the miner, taking the box with him as he visibly debated his next set of actions. Not feeling all too eager to ask the man for any more information, Steve simply stayed in place, waiting for Herobrine to hopefully break the silence with anything.
He had to wait a while, but the demigod eventually did break it, making strong eye contact with the miner as a sudden look of seriousness overcame him.
"...Allow me to risk your life once more, Steven." He stated, blindsiding the other with his sudden shift of tone and expression.
"What?!" Steve exclaimed, his hands immediately moving to cover his mouth as he realized how loud he had spoken, thankful that nobody rushed in afterward.
"If this is exactly what I think it is, and I'm pretty sure that it is, we're in trouble. I thought that things were bad enough with some colossal idiot bringing in Nethren materials to an unsuspecting village, but this? This?!" Herobrine paused, shaking the box in his hands for slight emphasis. "...I don't know if I can safely teleport out from here, but making a run for it past the people within this city may not be ideal either. We'll have to risk your life in either situation, so I'm asking you, may I do so with your full permission?"
Briefly debating the idea for a second, Steve decided to nod his head.
"You've already done it, and your odds have been good so far. Why not go the full mile, I guess?" He answered, though his tone was somewhat laced with sarcasm.
Either not noticing the sarcasm or not caring too much about it, Herobrine grabbed his arm with one hand while firmly holding the box with the other, taking a moment to collect himself well before abruptly forcing the two of them away from the area. Nausea, quite obviously, hit them both rather brutally once they landed in the area just outside of Merry Glade, though Herobrine pushed through it as he glanced around the place in search for anybody who could've possibly spotted them, not even turning toward Steve as the miner collapsed on the ground in a small coughing fit.
"H-how does it get even worse the more you do it?!" Steve asked, looking up to the other with watery eyes.
Herobrine quickly hushed him.
"Calm down. It's taking me a minute to get my senses back in order, and I don't know if anyone is around us. Keep quiet, Steven."
Nodding in response, Steve decided to take a few minutes to collect himself on the ground as Herobrine watched their environment, trying to get his senses in order as best he could. Once he was able to hear the miner's heartbeat again, the demigod motioned for him to stand up, looking down and briefly helping him once it became apparent that Steve was having a bit of trouble with recovering as quickly as he had.
"We should find the others. They'd run circles around the mortals here, but they wouldn't completely leave us alone here." Herobrine said, not waiting for Steve to agree with him before beginning to walk away toward the nearby forest with his free hand returning to help hold the box firmly.
It wasn't all that hard locating the three generals, though it did take a few minutes to do so. Herobrine initially attempted to find them by exerting his basic ability to call mobs, but as they didn't respond in time, he resorting to simply using his own eyes and ears in order to find them. They were found all sitting quietly against a rock, with Andvari resting directly in between Constiere and Malgun. While the latter two were struggling to even force their eyes to look upward, Andvari's own gaze was firmly planted on the distant pair, waiting for them to draw nearer.
As the two approached the three, Herobrine calmly walked forward, his hands momentarily lowering the box in his grip from his chest to just above his legs.
"...May I get an explanation for why you all decided to not follow my orders?" He asked, his tone somewhat laced with frustration as he glared at the others.
Wordlessly, both Consitere and Malgun pointed back to Andvari, who simply crossed his arms in front of his chest with a narrowed gaze.
"May we get an explanation for why you've suddenly forgotten the physical condition of these two?" Andvari gestured to the mob generals beside him as he finished, quickly crossing his arms again after.
Herobrine's firm expression dropped immediately at the other's words, turning into one of surprise.
"I...I really didn't-"
"-Didn't what? Think twice? Think at all about it?"
Herobrine shook his head as his attitude became a defensive one.
"I was only acting based on the situation, I didn't even-"
"-Herobrine. Constiere can't step foot within the hotter areas of the Nether. Malgun hasn't been tested for what the pressure in certain places could do to him. I teleported them away instead of forcing them in there because if the end of that passageway was anywhere near a location that either of these two couldn't handle-"
"-Then I'd be responsible for their deaths." Herobrine finished, his eyes trailing downward in clear regret as his voice grew uncharacteristically soft, almost meek.
Andvari paused in between admonishing the other and waiting for his responses.
"...Might I also add that you're clearly no longer able to fix them properly should things go awry? The potion's effects have worn off, have they? Is that why you decided to do such a stupid thing in blindly entering the Nether and trying to force us to do the same?"
Herobrine nodded.
"...I know. Yes."
As Andvari waited for him to continue, the demigod turned away, struggling to force his gaze back on the others as guilt fully overcame him, taking his mind away from the box that laid within his hands completely. With an expression laced with mixed negative emotions, Herobrine looked back at the others slowly, a small sigh leaving his lips.
"...I'm not fit to lead right now. My mind has become my enemy as of late, and I'm afraid that I've been lacking in my critical thinking skills. My pride was wounded when I allowed myself to be severely injured, and I've let the emotions that arose from that incident cloud my judgment and force me to act irrationally without concern for others. I apologize, sincerely." Herobrine's apology was direct, being finished off with a formal bow in their direction.
Something about this apology struck Steve in a way that didn't really sit all too well with him.
Compared to the one that he'd received earlier, this one was more...calculated, in a sense? It was more as if the other was merely saying it to get things out of the way, though he could tell that everything he had said was sincere. It almost reminded him of how a child would act upon being forced to apologize by their parent, if only to better their understanding of how the world around them worked. It seemed scripted, yet genuine.
Herobrine was calculating how well the others would respond to his words. He didn't even think to do such a thing with Steve.
After a few moments of silence that was aching to be broken, Andvari let out a small sigh, standing up as the demigod rose from his lowered position. Approaching the other with a stern gaze that had only slightly softened, the enderman nodded at him with approval.
"...That's a good start."
Herobrine gave a small smile upward to the other, pleased that his apology had gone over smoothly.
"I will make it up to you all in a way that won't jeopardize the mission. I promise."
As Andvari nodded again, the other two generals behind him quickly got up as well, approaching the other with interested gazes as the previous conversation faded away.
"Ugh, that was awful to sit through. Now, master, what's in that box?" Constiere asked, pointing at the object in question as Andvari sent him a brief glare.
Holding the box more up for the others to see, Herobrine's smile faded away as a look of seriousness soon replaced it.
"...It's of deep concern to us, that's what it is."
Before the others could question him about the meaning of his words, Herobrine opened the box, revealing the item inside. The mob generals let out gasps as they briskly stepped away from the sight, not daring to return to where they once were.
Steve, however, drew closer, placing himself right next to the demigod as he studied the strange shard inside with worried eyes.
"Can you all finally tell me what the hell this is?" Steve asked, gesturing to the object. "I'm thinking that it's what caused my eyes to change in the first place, my Elder cut me with something that looked like it-"
"Your Elder attacked you with it?!" All of the others, Herobrine included, asked him in unison, surprise and horror within their expressions.
Steve held up his hands in defense, shaking his head profusely.
"Not 'attacked,' guys!" He said in rebuttal, not convincing any of the others to join his side.
"Oh no, if that what he used, he attacked you with it, alright!" Constiere exclaimed, pointing at the object directly.
"Would it have killed you to tell me that when I asked you to? When he asked you why your eyes were different?" Herobrine asked Steve with a somewhat angered tone, gesturing over to Constiere briefly as he spoke.
"...Is it really bad?" Steve asked, fear growing in his expression.
Herobrine let out a deep, frustrated sigh.
"...Steven. Listen now, and listen well."
Taking the shard out from the box, Herobrine dropped the mahogany container onto the ground before abruptly shoving the makeshift knife in front of the miner's face.
"Do you want to know what this is?"
Steve nodded before the other even finished his question.
"This is a fragment of a Nether Star!"
Though he didn't know what a "Nether Star" was, all it took was the word "Nether" to make his blood run absolutely cold as the fragment was displayed in front of him.
"...What...what is that? A Nether Star, I mean?..." He asked quietly, waiting for the demigod to explain.
Pulling away from the other in response to his confusion, Herobrine continued.
"...It is a small concentration of pure, raw energy that takes root as the heart of a terrifying beast known as the Wither. It forms as a result of that beast being summoned. This should be nowhere near anybody's skin, let alone their bloodstream!"
Pulling the broken star away from him, Herobrine stared at the object with his angered gaze, brow a bit furrowed in thought.
"...You said something about seeing a box before with, presumably, another shard inside of it, correct?" He asked, not even bothering to look up at the miner.
Steve nodded.
"Yeah. My...the Elder had one, back when I got appointed."
"Then we can assume these are being distributed like the other Nethren goods we've found, meaning that somebody, somewhere, managed to summon a Wither without me noticing. Without any of us noticing." Herobrine paused, letting out a sigh. "...If it was divided into points like this, then hopefully that means that there are only two other shards out there."
"Sir, you don't think that someone may have-" Andvari began.
"-I don't even want to think about the idea that someone summoned multiple different Withers. Even if it explains why things have gotten to this point, I don't want to believe that someone would be so stupid as to-"
"-Brine. Please tell me that the Wither isn't some sort of demon we have to worry about. I'm already upset about the dragon." Steve interrupted the man, expression growing a bit tired at the idea of facing another potentially world-destroying monster.
Herobrine didn't shrug or nod, instead remaining firm.
"The Wither is only something we have to worry about if someone decides to summon one into this world. Long ago, one such idiot did, and I had to take care of both them and that beast for the survival of my monsters. I'd thought that was the end of it, until today. Someone is mass-producing these, in a sense, and I didn't feel the Wither enter this realm. That's what we have to worry about."
"It had to have happened when the Overworld was at its worst point in terms of magical balance, sir." Andvari suggested. "You couldn't even call the mobs to you."
Herobrine nodded.
"Most likely." He turned to Steve. "When did your Elder receive the box?"
Steve shrugged.
"My friend told me that she found the shard in a desert temple, and gave it to the Elder. He probably had the box beforehand."
Herobrine let out a small hum in thought.
"...She found just the shard?"
"Um…" Steve thought to himself for a moment, trying to think back and remember what his friend had mentioned to him before. "...No? I think she found it in a bunch of pieces, but she was attacked before she could grab-"
"-My forces have been monitoring the temples for any sign of magical activity, they should've found it first."
Steve shrugged.
"Well, I think she did say something about being attacked after, so I guess they took care of the rest of the shards?"
"If they did, they would've alerted me about it. That's the thing." Herobrine rebutted the other's suggestion.
"...Sir, the zombies were acting strangely when we went to the desert, weren't they?" Malgun spoke up, gaining the attention of the others.
Considering his words for a moment, Herobrine slowly nodded.
"...They attacked Steve without considering my instructions to stay away...They were going after the Nether Star, perhaps?"
"Meaning that they most likely destroyed the other shards before any of our forces noticed it." Andvari stated, eyes narrowed somewhat in added thought.
"Accidently or on purpose." Constiere added.
Nodding at the collective suggestions, Herobrine let out a frustrated hum soon after.
"...The implications that come from this discovery are unsettling. If the Elder cut you with it, and that was what surely changed your eyes, then that may mean he knew that it would help you enter the Nether, or perhaps even the End. Your Elder was aware of where you may have ended up. He wanted you to go there for a reason." Herobrine explained, watching Steve's expression grow into disbelief.
"I...he was probably setting me up to fight the dragon, if I ever found out about it! All champions are treated that way!" Steve defended, careful not to expose his prior knowledge about the creature despite it being a bit pointless at the moment.
"Yes, but not all of them are afflicted, aren't they? Did you even ask why he cut you, specifically?" Herobrine pressed further.
Steve hesitantly nodded his head.
"I did ask why he cut me, but he brushed me off and took me away to see if I could get armour fitted. What, is there something else we should be worried about, apart from literally everything else?!" His volume rose a bit as he finished.
Herobrine stopped himself briefly before answering the question, his own voice quieting back down once again.
"...Yes. There's always something else when it comes to these things. I don't want to speak to you about it, though. Not until I get the confirmation that it's still private information." He explained, earning a small, hesitant nod from Steve in return.
"I...okay. I'm not gonna ask about it until you want to tell me. I don't want to worry about it." Steve held up his hands in a defensive manner as he spoke, earning a small chuckle from the demigod.
"It'll only make you worse."
The other's upsetting words that were spoken in such a joking manner did all but convince him of the idea that he was merely joking.
Herobrine turned away from the group, looking down at the Nether Star fragment in his hand before handing it over toward Andvari, who hesitated in moving before walking up to grab it.
"Put that somewhere out of sight and out of mind. The less amount of these here in this world that are readily accessible to the humans, the better." He commanded.
Andvari nodded and teleported elsewhere, leaving the four behind in silence as Herobrine began to pace around by himself.
"...We need a new, solid plan. One that has thought placed into it. One that...doesn't result in any of you dying." He said, hands moving to fold behind his back.
Constiere let out a small laugh at his words.
"I thought that you were okay with the fact that we'd die for you?"
Herobrine turned to look at the boy, visibly upset by his joking words.
"I never said that!"
Constiere held up his hands in defense.
"I know, I know! It's a joke, sir!"
Staring at the boy for a moment before shaking his head, Herobrine let out a small sigh.
"...I'm blaming Steven for the way my emotions are manipulating me right now. Human influence is a disease."
An offended "Hey!" left the miner's mouth as Constiere burst out laughing, with Malgun letting out a small chuckle at his words as well.
After a few moments, Herobrine continued to pace.
"...The portal within Merry Glade is gone. We have no information on the End portal that we could find...perhaps we need to pay a visit to our dear, scholarly friend, Claymore, again?" Herobrine suggested, earning several looks of interest.
"You think he's gonna tell us about the portal like that?" Malgun asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"He might, though indirectly. It's still worth a shot since considering the amount of time that I've caused us to waste already, it wouldn't necessarily hurt to waste even more for a good cause."
With a round of nods, Herobrine briefly glared at the others before taking a glance back behind them, toward the already distant Merry Glade. His focus didn't break even as Andvari soon returned, giving the others a slightly intrigued expression at the sight of the demigod's determined stance.
"Then it's settled. We're traveling back to Brickston."
Both Steve and Herobrine are feeling the heat now lmao
Originally, I had planned for this chapter to cover a lot of story bases, mostly having to do with some characters making brief returns and whatever, with some big Nether lore being stuffed in between it all. However, I feel like it's still rather early for such a thing, so I've decided to keep this chapter somewhat simple. The more I look back on previous chapters, the more I want to focus on building Steve and Herobrine's relationship with each other, and though that involves the mob generals, I like having moments where they sort out their differences on their own. Steve's more of a guy that kind of changes his personality depending on the person he's with instead of being consistent, so with someone like Herobrine, who tends to switch between different attitudes quite often, he's forced to act more like himself in return, which means that they both have to deal with interacting with each other's genuine personas. I personally want to see more of that, so I'm writing it in XD
We'll come back to the Nether tho, don't worry lol. I've been dying to throw these guys in there for a while now!
Fun Facts!:
1.) The Nether, as you may have already noticed, is dangerous to humans mainly due to the difference in air/atmospheric pressure and, of course, the overwhelming heat! I'd say that the pressure there is mainly due to the magic that the realm holds, but the air ain't so good either. Those who can venture into the space can only really do so thanks to their tolerance to the whole magic part of that atmosphere. Kind of think of the Nether being like planet Venus a bit, if that makes any sense haha
2.) Off-topic, but apart from Herobrine liking the Nether for reasons already explained, he's a bit fond of it because the dense, somewhat suffocating feeling of the place feels like a hug lmao (one that he tolerates because it's not coming from a random person)
3.) Side note, Herobrine himself acts quite differently depending on which mob general he's with alone, lol. He has different relationships with each one, but when they're all together, it's either pretty formal, or collective chaos. The most formal interactions are had with Malgun, believe it or not. The least formal are had with Constiere, for obvious reasons lmao. The less careful Herobrine becomes in keeping his composure, the more he acts in these different ways with the generals in front of Steve. In other words, as the god of Imitation, he's prone to imitating those he's closest with lol, and he can't help it! It's as natural to him as breathing!
That's it for now! Leave a review if you have any thoughts!
