Chapter 34: Rendezvous


Returning to Brickston was looking to pose its own set of troubles soon enough.

The group returned to the place where they'd left Squash, who, upon their arrival, was standing defensively against the back wall of the cave she was in, growling at the creepers who were hissing back at her near the entrance. Her eyes screamed murder and theirs screamed fear, but neither of the two parties moved from their spot, remaining completely still. Without sparing a moment, Constiere rushed in between the creepers and the ravager, holding his palms outward for both parties to notice.

"Hey! Cut it out!" He exclaimed, soon after switching to speak to the creepers solely in their language, his hissed words leading to them reluctantly backing away from the ravager and leaving the area.

As Steve went over to check on Squash, the creature relaxed in his presence, immediately relaxing her aggressive state.

"At least they kept her there." Constiere remarked, walking over to the miner as he adjusted Squash's saddle.

"Yeah, I'm just glad that's all that happened." Steve responded with a small laugh, making sure that the reins that were in his hands were tightly connected to the ravager's equipment.

As the rest of the group approached them, the sound of paper being rustled came to their ears as they saw Herobrine opening the map that they had, looking at it intently. They hadn't even noticed that it had returned to his grasp at all, nor had they noticed Andvari leaving to retrieve it.

"...If I can't muster up the energy to teleport us all the way there-" Herobrine began.

"-You still have me, sir." Andvari interjected.

"Right. I know." Herobrine paused as he recollected his thoughts."...If we can't get everyone there from this distance away, we'll have to walk closer, then teleport."

"...How are you doing, considering energy and all?" Steve asked him cautiously while attempting to lift himself onto Squash's saddle.

Herobrine shook his head slowly.

"...You know how it felt when I teleported us out from Merry Glade. That experience didn't exactly spark any confidence."

Being reminded of the feeling, Steve let out a small groan of disgust.

"I don't want to see how bad it can get." He remarked, settling himself upon Squash's back.

"...Me neither. That's why I'm thinking about what we can do here." Herobrine said, focusing his attention back fully upon the map in his hands.

Looking back at the locations they'd previously explored, the demigod let out a sigh as his gaze focused on Brickston in particular.

"...If it was just myself and potentially only one of you, we'd be fine." He said, his voice almost in a mutter.

"...There's six of us." Steve added on quietly, taking a quick glance around the group as he too tried to think of a solution.

Silence filled the space between them all as they were caught up in their own thoughts, debating their next form of action. It wasn't too long until the silence was broken, however.

"...You know, multiple trips aren't of any real concern. I'd just have to take a break between each one." Andvari said, leaning down a bit to speak to Herobrine.

Herobrine immediately shook his head.

"No. I don't want you exhausting yourself like that. I don't want you to deal with that kind of strain." The demigod said strongly, though, this only earned a small glare from the enderman.

"My body is more made for this than yours, technically." Andvari said, his voice almost monotone.

"You and I both know-" Herobrine began.

"-Herobrine, we'll be here all month if we don't do something about our current situation. Let's keep the arguing to a minimum."

Herobrine narrowed his gaze at the enderman.

"...Only if you promise not to damage yourself."

"Only if you promise the same." Andvari rebutted.

The two looked at each other in silent, intense conversation before Herobrine relented, nodding his head slowly as he went back to looking at the map.

"...I promise that I will not hurt myself to the extent that the situation can't be controlled."

Andvari raised a brow at him.

"...Is that what you're promising?"

Herobrine let out a small groan.

"Getting injured is to be expected. Expecting the only person here who cannot die of natural circumstances to not take the brunt of any serious attack is absurd."

The enderman let out a sigh at his words.

"...Then you'll have to expect the only individual here with natural, rapid teleportation abilities to do his job."

Steve raised a brow at the enderman's words, as did Herobrine and the others. Before any of them could ask any questions or make any comments, Herobrine did it for them.

"You're forgetting that gods can teleport. Naturally, you know." He said, somewhat unamused as he voiced out the group's collective thought.

"But they weren't made just for that. It's not their core function." Andvari corrected.

"Neither were the endermen." Herobrine corrected further.

Before their argument could go any further, a loud groan escaped Constiere's lips.

"Can we stop with the technicalities and move on?! If you think about it, we're kinda on a time limit here." Constiere interrupted, getting in between the two as he shot glares at both of them.

"I have to agree." Malgun added. "The longer we stand here, the longer we're not in Brickston."

"Also, we're kinda carrying precious cargo!" Constiere briefly pointed back to Steve with his thumb. "We need to put him in the End, but we're kinda running the risk of having someone getting in the way and putting him in a grave first."

Herobrine's eyes widened as he listened to the boy's words, quickly turning his focus back on the map soon after.

"Yes. Correct."

Herobrine briefly looked up toward Andvari before looking back down.

"...I apologize. Again."

Andvari smirked at him.

"You know we'll only continue this discussion later."

"Yes. Let's move forward so we can get to that point, so I can properly lay it to rest."

Turning away and walking from the enderman, Herobrine soon turned back and presented the map to the others.

"Of course, we're heading to Brickston, but afterward, it'd be nice to already have another location in mind. If Claymore cannot give us an answer or lead, we might need some other options."

The others drew nearer to him in order to examine the map, all trying to pick out locations.

Curiously, Constiere pointed to an empty space on the map.

"I don't think any of our forces have paid any close attention to this area recently. We could go there."

Malgun curiously looked down at him.

"And why there? It just looks like cleared land, nothing special."

Constiere shrugged.

"Sometimes, you go around looking for stuff in complicated, busy places, only to later find that what you were looking for was in the most obvious, open space, sir."

The boy's words drew a few nods from the surrounding others.

Herobrine hummed.

"...That is plausible. But really, have we neglected that area?"

Constiere shrugged again.

"I don't know. This is only one map, but since the place is nowhere near a village, I'm only guessing that we wouldn't even bother getting near it."

"...Then we should keep that in mind, shouldn't we sir?" Andvari asked as he looked up toward Herobrine.

Herobrine nodded, turning the map back around in his hands as he did so.

"...Yes. In that case, we'd have to send out the mobs to those areas beforehand to get a search going so that we'd know where to go to avoid wasting time."

A brief look was given to the mob generals before Herobrine nodded his head back toward the world beyond them.

"Go and get the word out, starting here. I'll summon the silverfish as well to make sure that it gets even further out."

Receiving nods and salutes, Herobrine kept his focus on the map in his hands as the others disappeared elsewhere, a sudden feeling of dread overcoming the area soon afterward as Steve was the only one left behind.

With a small groan, Steve spoke up.

"I...I'm not sure that I'm gonna get used to that feeling either."

Herobrine looked up at him, his brow raised.

"...Which feeling?"

"You calling the mobs. That one."

"...Oh."

That was all that followed the miner's explanation, leading to Steve staring at the demigod in silence for a moment before another noise left him, this time coming in the form of a sigh.

"Listen, how are we gonna get to Brickston, what, with you and your ability to teleport and all? And your insistence on not letting Andvari do anything?"

"...We'll get there."

Steve looked at the demigod with a confused expression.

"What do you mean-"

"-I mean that...ugh. I might just have to allow Andvari to do his work freely. I don't want to, but I might just have to. Arguing with him is infuriating."

Why Herobrine didn't simply exert his control over the enderman baffled Steve entirely, but nevertheless, he nodded at the other's words.

"...Oh. Okay."

A few minutes after they finished speaking with each other, a silverfish finally came to them. Herobrine quickly explained the situation to it, and once the creature left, a few more minutes of silence followed before the mob generals returned as well, appearing a bit eager to get ahead with the current objective.

Constiere excitedly approached the demigod.

"Alright, now, what do we do?" He asked.

Herobrine hummed, giving a quick glance over to Andvari as he folded up the map in his hands and placed it elsewhere on his person.

"...We teleport to that cave we found when we initially approached the city."

As Andvari briefly caught the glint in the other's eye, he smiled.

"Yes, sir."

With an expression that held clear regret of his approval, Herobrine watched as Andvari immediately went to grab both Malgun and Constiere, surprising the latter with his abruptness before the three of them disappeared from their sight.

Steve glanced down at the demigod worriedly.

"Uh, with all due respect, how are we going to-"

"-Move Squash? Your beast? Simple."

Herobrine moved to place a hand on the creature, which was automatically met with a low growl.

"We'll be moving her together. Might not go as smoothly as last time, but two magical beings that can teleport are better than one."

"...Does that mean I have to dismount her-"

"-No. Just hold your breath and remain where you are. There might be a considerable cooldown time if we teleport just her, and I don't want to leave you vulnerable for any amount of time whatsoever. Not with the potential threat of a cult being out in the wild, looking for us."

Worriedly, Steve looked at the other. Herobrine quickly raised a hand to silence any words of disapproval, however.

"You'll be safe. If you aren't, I'll humbly end my own life without a second thought. I wasn't saying what I said in Lunarus for simple dramatic effect, I was serious."

Not any less worried about the situation, Steve let out a small, exasperated sigh.

"...That doesn't help."

Herobrine briefly looked up at him before lowering his hand.

"...Educate me in proper human comforting methods later. Right now, take my words for what they're supposed to be, and do not be afraid. I'll push all my energy towards making sure that you're safe."

Steve hesitantly nodded, grabbing a tighter hold of Squash's reins as he did so.

"...Aye aye, I guess."

As Andvari returned, looking a bit tired, he let out a small laugh at the sight of an obviously concerned Steve with a serious Herobrine standing right next to him.

"Ready?" The enderman asked, a laugh lacing his voice.

"To argue further or to move on?" Herobrine quipped, his expression not changing in the slightest.

"Whatever you prefer, honestly." Andvari answered, moving over to attach his claws to Squash as Herobrine moved to do the same, briefly patting the ravager's back.

"Now, focus on the energy that my magic is producing. Even more so than you did the first time." Andvari instructed, earning a nod from Herobrine.

"Yes, Andi." Herobrine responded, closing his eyes as he did what the other instructed him to do.

A few moments afterward, Steve suddenly felt the lurching, nauseating feeling that accompanied the movement of teleportation, but what he wasn't expecting was to feel as if he was briefly levitating in the air, separate from Squash, as he was moved. Panicking for a second as he feared he was being left in a place between worlds, his fears were halted only when he felt a sudden rush of cold overcome him, leading to the realization that he'd closed his eyes in fear as he opened them to find the group suddenly in the cave they'd found near Brickston. With a sigh of relief, Steve moved to dismount Squash, only to find that he'd lost control of his sense of movement as he went from carefully dismounting the creature to nearly collapsing fully onto Herobrine.

The demigod, thankfully, caught him before he could embarrass himself entirely.

"...When being moved along with a creature beneath you, please wait for the rest of your body to catch up with you upon landing, Steven." Herobrine said, holding onto the miner as he regained his footing.

With a nervous laugh, Steve pushed himself off of the other, holding his hands up in an apology as he stepped away.

"S-sorry! Sorry. I'll keep that in mind, alright?" He said with a small laugh in his voice.

Herobrine nodded at his promise as he directed his attention to the world outside of the cave, narrowing his gaze at the sight of snowfall.

"We'll have the blessing of snow here to cover our tracks. Steven, why don't we make our visit?"

As Steve lowered his hands, he watched as the other slowly began to leave.

"Wait, now?"

Wordlessly, Herobrine gestured for him to follow, leaving the miner in further confusion. Steve cast a quick, bewildered expression back at the mob generals, who simply shrugged in response. In silence, he placed his feet before him hesitantly as he walked after Herobrine, shivering as he felt a sudden sense of longing for his belongings, his blankets in particular. He didn't know if his discomfort had been verbally expressed without him realizing it, but before he could even register the action, Herobrine waited for him to approach before moving to his side, summoning a flame in his hand as he moved it closer to the miner.

The silent act of kindness made him feel warmer than the flame itself had.

As they approached the front gate of the city, the two found themselves approaching a problem that had only became known to them when they both remembered the fact that the place was, in fact, an active college. Day or night, people could be found running about, creating the sudden issue of finding the founder of said college without being seen by his students. What could they even do, especially if the news about their stunt in Lunarus had already reached the area?

Leaning forward a bit to catch more of the flame's heat, Steve focused his gaze on the entryway before them, looking between the two snowmen that were placed beside it with deep intrigue and concern.

"So...people are likely going to be awake in there, should I go in first and-"

Steve's words were interrupted by a hand coming upon his shoulder, with another coming to Herobrine's as well, making him drop the flame in his palm almost immediately, startling Steve as it quickly dissipated before hitting the ground. Both were shocked by the sudden appearance of a third party, but before they could even turn to see who it was, the man who'd grabbed them leaned forward as he began to speak in somewhat of a whisper.

"You boys are coming with me." The familiar man's voice came, his tone slightly crazed in a way, yet still rather serious.

Herobrine spoke first, choosing to not look at the man in between them.

"Aren't there students in your city? Shouldn't we worry about being seen by them, Claymore?"

A chuckle left the god's mouth.

"Oh, don't worry about that. The moment I felt your signature in the area, I cleared out the library as quickly as I could. We really, really need to have a chat."

Before they knew it, the sudden feeling of being teleported elsewhere came upon them both, but unlike what Herobrine's magic caused, only nausea that was barely even present came upon them. Adjusting to their new, lit surroundings, the two found themselves within Brickston's library, which was as empty as the god beside them said it would be. They'd been placed on the second floor, right in front of the reading area that Steve had visited before.

Claymore removed his hands from their shoulders as he went around to stand in front of them, leaning back a bit on a reading table that was behind him. As the two examined his appearance, it was clear that he had been quite rattled, as the hair that was visible beneath his cloak was uncharacteristically messy, with only a couple of hair ties keeping some of his hair directly away from his face. He took a deep, long breath before speaking.

"...I know that I'm not supposed to know details about your plans, but...would you mind explaining to me why the hell you had to startle a crowd like that?!" He asked somewhat angrily, looking directly at Herobrine.

The demigod's eyes widened with intrigue.

"You...you know about that? Already?" He asked, a bit stunned.

Claymore let out a quick sound of disbelief that was followed by a laugh.

"You showed up. Your brother saw you do what you did, and came to me. The whole Aether knows what you did because you literally did it in front of Maxwell, too. When the demigod menace known as Herobrine makes a move, not a soul is left in the dark about it for even a day! You should know that by now!"

Herobrine's look of disbelief only got stronger.

"My...my brother was there? I didn't feel his...his signature…" Herobrine asked, his voice growing weaker as he finished.

Claymore nodded his head.

"He wasn't about to be a part of the ceremony himself, but he did watch it, trust me."

Moving on, Claymore narrowed his gaze at him, briefly glancing over at Steve.

"So. What's your plan, here? What's going on?" He asked, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke.

Herobrine's expression grew neutral once again.

"You know that I'm not going to-"

"-Say anything. Yes, I know. But...I desperately wish to guide you along a path that'll get you what you want with as few difficulties as possible." Claymore explained, pleading with the other.

Herobrine rose a brow.

"And if what I want clashes with Maxwell's vision?"

"...If Maxwell didn't wish for anyone to clash with his vision, he'd have ruled the Aether like a proper king, and raised his children like a proper father. How he even decided to have another kid after the first is beyond me, but how he even managed to get both of them to hate him is even more so."

Herobrine looked back at Steve worriedly, soon after turning back towards Claymore with an angered, slightly embarrassed expression.

"Claymore. Silence yourself, he doesn't-"

"-You can't hide that. Not as long as Maxwell considers you a target." The god said, sneaking in a small smirk toward Steve.

Steve looked at him curiously.

Was he trying to force Herobrine to open up to him further?

Silence filled the space between them for a moment before Herobrine let out a frustrated groan, turning back to face Steve with an exasperated expression.

"Steven. To make this as painless as possible, let me explain something." Herobrine took a moment to let out a breath. "King Maxwell...we're unfortunately related by blood. He's my father, and I'm his eternally-damned son. The youngest one, anyways."

Though the information wasn't exactly new, Steve pretended to be shocked after hearing it.

"W-wait, really?!" He asked, a bit too shocked.

After hearing his question, Herobrine left him in silence for a moment before letting out a sigh of what seemed to be defeat.

"...That lilt in your voice is forced. Did you already know that?" Herobrine asked, his voice unnaturally quiet.

Shocked but not exactly surprised that the other saw through his ruse, Steve hesitantly nodded.

"...Context clues gave it away. I'm sorry." He apologized softly with a lie, praying that the other wouldn't smite him where he stood, despite the fact that Herobrine was evidently more interested in looking after him than anything else.

Herobrine turned away from him, his expression rather hurt as he went to glare at the god before them.

"...I'm assuming that those context clues were found thanks to a name that starts with a 'Clay' and ends with a 'more?' Am I correct?" He asked, earning a small laugh from the god in question.

"What makes you believe that?" Claymore asked.

"I'm not sure. I was given some pretty strong context clues about the possibility."

The god shrugged in response.

"I'm sure you were. Regardless of that, however…"

Claymore narrowed his gaze at the demigod.

"You need to at least give me an idea of what's best for your end goal. If Steven's your champion, you need to consider what's best for him as well."

Herobrine nodded in agreement, briefly choosing to debate with himself before moving on.

"...If all of my secrets are going to be disclosed to others without my direct consent, then I guess I can let this...slip, per se."

The demigod turned around to look at a nearby bookshelf, perusing the titles of each book as he collected his thoughts.

"...What can you tell us about the End portals?"

Claymore looked up at him with a rather surprised expression.

"...I'd think that you of all people would know more than I do."

Herobrine looked back at him, surprise in his gaze as well.

"...You...don't know?"

Claymore groaned.

"You know Maxwell. He's forgone all tradition. He's done away with ruling the kingdom like a traditional king, raising a family like a traditional father, and, of course, discussing magical balance and the protection of other realms like a traditional ruler. He's made a secret council that only 'dedicated' folks can enter, and I'm, for obvious reasons, not one of them."

Confused, Herobrine walked closer to him.

"What...what happened to the others who knew?"

Claymore shrugged.

"Either one of two options. They were forced into silence, or...exterminated."

Herobrine narrowed his gaze.

"...The only way we can drag any information is essentially not possible, then?"

The god shook his head.

"Only the devoted know what's up. Maxwell wanted to feel special, and, like always, before the protection of the realms comes his ego. Even if you managed to hold a council member hostage, they'd most likely do anything else before even suggesting an answer to you."

With a sigh of disappointment, Herobrine turned away from the other, beginning to pace.

"...You truly know nothing, then. Not the portal's location, how to activate one, nothing."

Claymore shrugged.

"Not necessarily."

Both Herobrine and Steve looked at him with confused expressions, prompting the god to laugh.

"Ha! Pay closer attention to my words! I didn't really say I knew nothing. Just that I wouldn't exactly know as much as you do, at this present time." Claymore took a moment to collect himself before continuing. "First of all, if you think there's only one other portal here, you're sadly mistaken. How many exactly there are in this world, now that's something I'm unsure about."

Herobrine looked at the other, shocked.

"...Did the higher gods really believe that this world could take all of that energy?"

Claymore shrugged.

"They learned the truth, eventually. Why do you think the End realm is the way that it is?"

An angered expression briefly overcame Herobrine, causing him to cast his brightened gaze to the side. Claymore quickly continued the conversation.

"Anyways, rest assured that I've told no living soul about this apart from you two lovely gentlemen. The portals are all supposedly hidden beneath the depths of the earth, but once the champions realize that not everything rests upon the surface, it's only a matter of time before they go poking around and eventually stumble upon something of note."

"...If there's really an abundance, then there's no chance that we can find and monitor each one in time, yes?"

Claymore shrugged again.

"Perhaps."

The man pushed himself away from the table, moving to search the bookshelves for a moment.

"In activating them, well, that's essentially forbidden knowledge that I haven't stumbled upon. It only is passed on by word-of-mouth, and, even then, it's only spoken between gods now. The kind that swore eternal loyalty to Maxwell, that is."

The two who were listening to the other looked at each other with disappointment, right before another laugh escaped Claymore's lips.

"I love examining you two! Please, let me finish!" He exclaimed, holding his hands up in defense as Herobrine went straight back to glaring at him. "Now, at this present time, the information is only spoken between gods, but...some mortal clans have passed the information down, I believe. They used to communicate with the gods, so it's only expected that a historian would've been among them."

Curiosity overcame Steve's face.

"So...what you're saying is that we should look for somebody in one of those clans?"

Claymore playfully shrugged at his question.

"Maybe. You decide."

Herobrine rolled his eyes as Steve smiled at the god.

"I know that you have to 'act' aloof, but your language makes me want to lunge at your throat." Herobrine said, unamused by the other's demeanor.

"I apologize. Maxwell acts poorly with traitors, and by speaking with you, I've become a public enemy that they're not quite aware of yet. I want to preserve my ability to gather knowledge for you." The founder responded.

"I understand that. Please, continue."

Claymore nodded.

"The supposed clans are spread out throughout the world, and some are more...in-tune with the arcane than others. The mortals of this realm have done you a favor by ostracizing them from their population already, so you can expect for them to be separate from your typical villages or cities. I've managed to come into contact with one long ago, but they refused to admit any sort of arcane information whatsoever, so brace yourselves for resistance."

Herobrine nodded at the information, thinking to himself with intrigue.

"...Do you still have contact with that clan?"

Claymore shook his head.

"One day I did, and then the next, they were gone, seemingly wiped off of the face of the earth." He explained, earning a slow nod from Herobrine.

The demigod thought to himself again before breaking the momentary silence.

"...The humans helped with keeping knowledge about the other realms to a minimum beforehand, and I'm assuming that assistance will only dwindle once word about what happened in Lunarus gets further out."

Claymore verbally agreed to the other's words with a quick hum.

"Depending on the kind of peace they wish to preserve. You'll have to look in more hidden places to potentially find the kind of individuals you're looking for. Of course, some might be hiding among the more naive mortals, but...please consider which basket you'd benefit more from after placing your eggs in them." Claymore suggested.

Taking note of the information, both Herobrine and Steve nodded, with the latter's eyes lighting up a bit in realization.

Could there possibly be a person like that in his life already? Selwyn was an individual who prided herself in strange and rare goods, maybe she could give him information?

"...You truly don't even know how to activate the portals, correct? Even with all the knowledge you have stored away here?" Herobrine asked, breaking the human beside him from his own thoughts.

Claymore shook his head.

"Besides your history and the End portals in general, that is some information that has evaded me for quite some time. Should be an easy process with context clues given by the gods themselves, but...I guess Maxwell has been more careful than what we dare to give him credit for."

With a sigh of defeat, Herobrine turned away from the other, beginning to leave as he gestured for the miner to do the same.

"...We should get going as soon as possible if we want to solve the question, then."

Before the two could even get anywhere remotely close to a stairway that could lead them to the exit, Claymore moved in front of them.

"Hey, hold on a second. We don't need to rush now." Claymore said quietly, looking around briefly for any witnesses before he waved his hand. A book soon came to him shortly afterward.

Holding out the book for the demigod to take, Claymore smiled.

"Please, read this. It'll aid you, I hope."

Herobrine looked at him with a raised brow.

"...Another one?"

The demigod read the cover for a split second before even more confusion came to him.

"...What's stopping my brother from coming to me directly to give me these things?"

As Steve tried to take a glance at the cover of the book as well, Claymore laughed.

"Timing. Two gods within a single place is intriguing enough, but three at a time? With our different signatures all in one place? Quite suspicious, if you ask me."

As the god let out another laugh, Herobrine rolled his eyes.

"...I suppose so. Thank you for the...rental."

"The gift." Claymore corrected, earning a sigh from the demigod.

"Yes, of course. The gift." Herobrine muttered, moving to escape the other quickly as Steve followed.

The miner waved at Claymore as he left, smiling at him.

"Thanks for the help, Clay!"

Claymore waved at him as well.

"I do what I can, Steve!"

Herobrine and Steve briskly left the building, making their way out into the snow with what appeared to be slight relief in their expressions.

Abruptly, Herobrine turned to face the other as they approached the gate and passed by it.

"We know what to look for. Now, where do you suppose we should head first?"

Steve looked at him with a raised brow for a second, but before he could ask any questions, Herobrine read his gaze and sighed.

"I'm asking you first because I'm sure that the others wouldn't have any more of an idea than I do at the moment. Also, I'd like your input in mind, first."

Steve nodded at the other's admission, somewhat feeling proud of the fact that he'd been so direct.

"I...would it be a waste of time if we went back to my home village?" He asked, hesitantly.

"...Why, may I ask?"

Steve shrugged.

"I...might have a friend there that can give us the answers we need."

Herobrine stared at him for a moment before nodding his head in response.

"...Then I suppose that we can."

Smiling, Steve nodded at the other's words.

"Good. Hopefully, I'm right about this."

"Your suggestion is all we have at the moment. For our sake, I'm hoping that you're correct about this as well."

Herobrine paused in his tracks, remembering that they'd been gifted a book that was originally gifted by his sibling. Looking down at the book, Herobrine sighed.

"...Might as well get this over with."

The demigod flipped the cover of the book open, finding the space inside to have been hollowed out like the other book he received had been. Both Steve and Herobrine's eyes widened at what they found within it, however.

Two, carefully-placed green orbs were nestled within the protection of a small pillow, placed alongside a note that the demigod immediately grabbed and folded open with his hands, abruptly shoving the open book into Steve's grasp.

Reading the note, Herobrine's expression turned to one of horror as he looked back at Steve, who looked at him with a confused, expectant gaze in return.

"...Not good news, is it?" Steve asked quietly, glancing down at the orbs in the book.

Herobrine continued to stare at him.

"...He gave us a warning about what Maxwell has ordered." Herobrine said, his tone nearly emotionless.

"...Which is?"

Herobrine cast his attention back down to the note in his hands briefly before he flipped it over for Steve to read himself. Given that the gods apparently had a whole communication method of their own, Steve was not expecting for the note to have been written in his own language.

"The gods are purposefully going after endermen as they see them, leaving their pearls for humans to find. They're just outright gifting them to the mortals as well."

"...Don't we need those?!" Steve asked, a bit of panic growing in his tone.

Herobrine nodded his head.

"They're only barely able to find them now, but my brother has warned me to stop using the endermen for the time being. He knows that I have at least some leadership over them." He let out a quiet scoff. "...Like I can control them all at once when I can barely keep tabs on them now."

Placing the note back into the book after folding it, Herobrine took said book back from the miner, continuing their walking journey back to the cave.

"Let's show this to the others and get going to your village. We'll take a quick break before we leave just to make sure Andvari's alright, then we'll move."

Steve raised a brow at him.

"Should we move closer to the village first so that he doesn't have to travel all that far?"

Herobrine thought to himself momentarily, leaving the other in silence for a good minute or so before nodding his head slowly.

"...That would be ideal."

The two made their way back to the cave outside the city without being spotted, much to their relief. As the mob generals greeted them upon their return, Herobrine quickly opened the book they'd received in order to get right down to business.

"The gods are hunting the endermen. My brother has informed us that it would best if we hid the endermen as best we could." Herobrine explained quickly, earning full shock from the others.

Andvari looked at him worriedly.

"...I'd assume that he'd already be aware of the fact that that's not possible."

"Me too. Nevertheless, I guess that means we'll just have to work even faster to put this calamity to rest." Herobrine said, letting out a small sigh of frustration.

The others nodded, their shock wearing off as their attention turned to the demigod fully.

"Did that guy give us any good information?" Constiere asked.

Herobrine nodded.

"Not necessarily 'good' in terms of how it relates to us. According to his knowledge, there are many End portals within this realm, so it's only a matter of time until some idiot potentially stumbles upon one."

As the others took in his information, Herobrine glanced between them with a determined expression.

"We'll have to race them, as you already knew. Claymore said in order to discover how to activate these portals, it would be in our best interest to search for individuals like us. The outcasts, so to speak."

Constiere looked at him curiously.

"...Outcasts?"

"People who know about the occult and the magical. Those who may already be aware of the Nether, and potentially the End, unfortunately."

"...Where would we find these folks, exactly?" Malgun asked cautiously.

Herobrine took a glance back toward Steve.

"...Potentially back in Steven's village. We'll be teleporting there, next, once Andvari regains his strength."

The mob generals nodded as Andvari let out a small chuckle.

"I'm already quite refreshed. Like I've mentioned before, we're built for teleportation, sir."

Herobrine narrowed his gaze at him.

"...Your pearl is emanating signs of stress."

Andvari looked at him with surprise on his features as Herobrine rolled his eyes at his reaction.

"Don't think for a second that just because you don't have a human heart, it means that I can't read you like the others."

Andvari let out a tch as he turned away from the demigod, focusing his attention on the rest of the cave.

"...Damn. Just when I thought I had one thing that could stump you."

As Herobrine let out a sound of annoyance, Constiere and Steve laughed a bit at the interaction as Malgun shook his head a bit in amusement.

"We'll move out in a few. Just...make sure you have enough energy to handle things." Herobrine announced, moving to place himself at the far end of the cave as the others acknowledged his instructions with nods.

The group moved to take a momentary break in the cave, relaxing as the weight of their responsibilities was briefly removed from their shoulders.


Okay, so I was recently reminded of the fact that Herobrine's technical "birthday" was literally just a couple of days before mine, so like, Virgo squad I guess lol XD I'm happy to finally have a fav character that's at least close to being born in September :D

I'm currently at a certain point in the story where we're gonna get into some serious nonsense again lol. Herobrine's trying to manage things better after his little spiral, and these guys only have so long until somebody, somewhere, manages to beat them to a portal somehow. It's a mess, but they'll learn to deal with it, lol.

Aight, Fun Facts!:

1.) Claymore was 1000% waiting for Herobrine to get even an inch within his range in order to drag him into Brickston lol. The second he heard the news, he decided that it was ON SIGHT

2.) Of all the beings and creatures he's ever met, Herobrine only seems to allow Andvari to hit him with some serious back sass, lol.

That's it for now! Leave a review if you have any thoughts!