Chapter 39: God of Innovation


Surprisingly enough, even as Steve finally managed to stop his tears from falling, Herobrine had yet to separate from his side.

The two sat quietly on the couch, Herobrine leaning back against the green, plush fabric with his arms crossed in front of his chest, and Steve sitting more at an angle, leaning more against the armrest to his right. Neither of the two dared to break the silence that had formed, but in all honesty, neither really saw the need to, anyway. Steve was, to his slight surprise, completely comfortable with Herobrine's silent presence, and vice-versa. There was a quiet acknowledgment of the fact that the two had now essentially seen each other at their most helpless, vulnerable states, and yet, neither of the two wanted to address that fact vocally just yet. All they really knew was that what they both needed was comfort, and, even though it was silent, they were able to give it to one another despite how little they knew of how far they could safely step into each other's respective boundaries without using force.

Right now, there wasn't a time limit. There wasn't any impending chaos. No harsh words, no difficult emotions. Just the two of them sitting peacefully in Steve's house, silently appreciating one another's company without outright admitting it.

Eventually, Steve, with his face still somewhat red and his eyes only slightly less puffy than before, broke the silence with a quiet sigh, which gathered Herobrine's full attention rather quickly.

"...I should start looking for him, right?" Steve asked, glancing over to Herobrine as he spoke.

Herobrine looked at him with confusion in his gaze momentarily before realization quickly flashed across his expression, leading to a slow nod.

"That would be best, don't you think?"

Slowly standing up, feeling the blood rush down his legs in a way that brought a wave of pins and needles to them, Steve let out an agreeing hum in return as he fought through it. Herobrine watched him make his way to the door, but just before the miner could actually leave, the demigod decided to interrupt him.

"Steven." Herobrine called out, gaining Steve's attention almost immediately.

"...Yeah?"

Herobrine thought to himself before continuing.

"...Be honest with this…Pickett. Whether that means simply or brutally depends on you, but it'd be best to be frank with how horribly this journey has treated you thus far."

Steve sent a raised brow in his direction, though it was accompanied by a playful smirk.

"That's been mostly your fault, you know."

Herobrine shrugged, looking briefly uncomfortable before he noticed the miner's joking expression.

"...Exaggerate it, then. Make it seem like hell on earth. Tell him whatever, just make sure that he's discouraged, alright? Or else, I'll get involved, and you don't seem to like that idea."

Steve nodded in response, giving the demigod a quick salute as he went to open the door.

"Aye aye, cap." He said with a small, shaky laugh in his voice, earning a small roll of the eyes from Herobrine as he finished.

Stepping outside, Steve was hit with the reality of his situation once again, making him desperately want to run back into the house in order to continue hanging out with Herobrine.

It was going to be hard speaking to Pickett, that much he knew for certain.

When Pickett was committed to something, he truly, truly put his entire heart, mind, and soul to it. Even if it was something that put his life on the line, like mining, the man would be determined to see things through to the end. On one occasion, he decided that he'd learn how to steal a single rib bone from a skeleton without it noticing, and though that went as well as it could've possibly gone (meaning poorly), he still tried with all his might to do it. He was pretty admirable, in that sense, though, all that was proving to be was another significant obstacle for Steve to hopefully overcome.

It would not be easy to convince Pickett to refuse to be a champion. While the Elder could threaten Steve with banishment and have himself be taken seriously due to the miner technically not actually being from Highland, Pickett would be a harder case to justify. Not only that, but even if the Elder threatened him with anything, that would only go poorly for the Elder, seeing that Pickett was pretty much good friends with everyone in the village. If not everyone, then certainly most people. There'd be a riot if the Elder went against him; Steve didn't have that luxury. If he could get Pickett to refuse, the Elder could do nothing about it, but that was only if Pickett agreed to his request.

If Pickett was serious about this, he'd have to switch his priorities to holding Herobrine back from attacking him, and he knew damn well that he'd have a better chance of teaching the iron golems in the village to tap dance than that. Butting heads with Pickett was not something he really wished to do, but if it got the man out of the line of danger, he'd do it. It was either that, or witnessing a potential bloodbath. All he had to do now was actually track the man down. He'd honestly lost count of how many days it had been since he started his bizarre adventure, and because of that, he wasn't sure what Pickett's schedule currently looked like. Was he out mining right now? Was he in the village getting his ores smelted? The Elder said something about brewing potions, should he check the quick clinic? Where should he go first?

A somewhat frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he dragged himself to the village. Today would be a long, long day. Much longer than what he'd already been anticipating.


Thankfully, Almun had a better idea of where Pickett currently was than he did. Apparently, earlier on in the day, the other miner had been boasting about the couple of diamonds he had found (lucky) after spending a few minutes watching the blacksmith take care of his other ores. He told Almun about needing to both help out in the nearby quick clinic and take a lesson in potion-brewing there, so, with that information, Steve immediately took himself there.

Upon entering the quick clinic, Steve found Pickett exactly where he was told that he'd be: standing in front of the potion-making station that he himself had learned how to brew from. The other miner was working eagerly, though it was evident that he was a bit more disorganized with his methods. Ingredients were spread out across the table, some having been spilled, and nearby bottles filled with failed concoctions sat off to the side. A sword hung from a belt wrapped around his hips, and, judging by its newer appearance, he was willing to bet that Almun had forged the blade for the other as he'd done for him.

With a bit of nervousness, Steve stepped forward.

"Pickett." He said quietly.

Pickett stopped whatever he was doing, briefly appearing somewhat confused before turning around to face Steve. Almost instantly upon seeing him, Pickett's eyes lit up with excitement.

Pickett's normal, emerald green eyes stared back down at him.

Steve was rather shocked by the fact that Pickett hadn't gone through the same "test" as he had, but the longer he thought about it, the more worried he became. Was the Elder planning on sending him on his journey without using that little magic dagger? If Pickett ever tried to go through a portal, then…

As his worried thoughts began to overwhelm him, he found himself being suddenly enveloped in a tight hug.

"I haven't seen you in forever, Stevie! How're you doing?!"

Feeling himself beginning to struggle for air, Steve attempted to place his hand against the other as a sign to let go.

"P-pick! I-I kinda...need…a-air here!" He strained out.

With a look of realization, Pickett released the miner abruptly, allowing him to touch the floor again as he struggled to catch his breath. Once his lungs were back at their full capacity, Steve looked up at the other with a small smile.

"I'm doing pretty well, I suppose. Uh...I-I hear that you've recently been, well…" Steve trailed off, gesturing to the other as his words failed him.

Pickett followed his gaze, looking at him with even more excitement than before.

"Yeah, I got selected to be a champion as well! Isn't that exciting?! The Elder said that I had to make a couple of potions before I actually get the chance to do anything though, just to be safe, you know." The other miner pointed over to the table. "'Nan's been teaching me all she could, but uh…not a lot of it is sticking, to be real with you."

Pickett finished with a laugh, though his words only made Steve even more worried about him.

He had to get to the point. It was going to kill him if Pickett were to continue on this path.

As the other miner turned away in order to continue working a bit, Steve cleared his throat, stepping closer to the other before he actually began to speak again.

"Uh…Pick?"

Pouring a viscous combination of what appeared to be honey and barely smushed untampered melon bits, Pickett continued working, only letting out a small hum in acknowledgment of Steve's words.

Nervously, Steve forced himself to continue.

"...Pickett, I...I really think that you need to reconsider…y'know, all of this."

The other miner in front of him slowly rose from his station, glancing over to him with a confused expression as he set his ingredients down.

"...Reconsider what?" He asked quietly.

Finding his nerves beginning to act up even more than before, Steve took a quick breath before continuing.

"Pickett, it's...it's nothing like what you think it's gonna be like out there. There's no security, no guarantee of safety, no...no anything."

Pickett raised a brow at him and let out a small chuckle.

"Steve, that already comes with our job! What's different out there, the surroundings, maybe?"

A bit frustrated at the fact that Pickett had immediately resorted to blowing off his sincere warning, Steve's eyes slightly narrowed.

"Pick, other people will try to go after you out there! They take their titles very, very seriously! Also, if you don't bring a brewing stand with you, you won't ever get the chance to save yourself by brewing a few potions!"

Steve didn't initially intend to raise his voice at the other, but once he did, he fully gained Pickett's concern.

"T-they…" Steve continued, his voice rather significantly softer than before. "...You could get really, really hurt out there, Pick. Your fighting skills need some work too, and-"

"-My what? Steve, do you think I just picked up my sword yesterday?" Pickett asked in slight disbelief, taking out the sheathed blade at his hip to punctuate his point. "...Well, I actually did, but…that's whatever! Steve, you don't have to be worried about me, I can handle myself!"

The other finished with a small laugh as he sheathed his blade soon after.

Steve shook his head.

"When we mined together, it was mostly me-"

"-I got a couple of mobs too!" Pickett interjected.

"It was mostly me doing the fighting, Pickett. I dealt with large groups of mobs down there, and keep in mind, I have the mob slayer experience here. I'm just saying, the amount of mobs that can fit in narrow corridors is a lot, lot less than the number of mobs that can fit in a forest. Remember how badly we got overwhelmed down there? On several occasions?"

Pickett let out a quick laugh.

"The Elder said that I'd be perfectly able to defend myself against things like that, Steve."

Pickett leaned back down toward the table, resuming his previous work with a smile.

Steve slightly narrowed his gaze at him again, crossing his arms in front of his chest and moving to walk behind the other miner, meeting him again on the left side of the table.

"The Elder was wrong. He hasn't been out there; I have. I nearly died out there Pick, do you really think that you'd do any better?"

Steve froze at the sound of his own voice, somewhat surprised with himself at how harsh it came across. Finding Pickett turning toward him with a surprised look of his own, shame quickly came to him as he slowly processed what had left his mouth.

In all fairness, he was being as honest as he possibly could be with the other. He was certain that Pickett would meet an unfortunate end out in the wild, and he had significant evidence to support that theory. Given that he'd had his own troubles during the brief times he was actually alone on his journey, it could only be said that Pickett would potentially have many, many more. He was just mostly surprised at the fact that his honest statement had left his mouth with no hesitation whatsoever.

Pickett stood straight up once again, looking down at him with a bit of hurt in his eyes, though he tried to hide his emotions beneath a quick chuckle and the shake of his head.

"...Stevie, you know that I'm stronger than you."

"Physically? Yes. But can you say for sure that you'd be able to handle a horde of mobs coming at you from all angles? Can you think and work quickly enough to get out without…y'know, dying?"

Pickett's gaze slightly narrowed at him.

"What do you mean by that, Stevie?"

Steve remained firm.

"I mean that you're not all that experienced when it comes to fighting, as well as strategic planning. You move slowly, your feet drag in battle, and you tend to hold your sword in such a…weird way that I dunno how you avoid it getting knocked completely out of your hands all the time! Pickett! You're not battle-ready! You can take your time to learn how to brew potions all you want, but please, please take the time to train too!" Steve raised his voice once again, keeping his gaze connected with the other's as he spoke.

In all honesty, maybe Herobrine was having a bigger impact on him than what he could've expected. He certainly was having an effect on his manner of speech, that was clear. There were brief hints of him imitating the other's accent while he spoke, mostly occurring with his more biting words. He would've found his rapid change of inflection amusing if it weren't for the clear expression of hurt and offense it caused in Pickett as he stared at him with widened eyes, utterly dumbfounded.

"...Steve, that…that was kinda mean."

Realizing his error, Steve's eyes widened as an apologetic expression came over his features.

"I…Pickett, I'm sorry. I…"

Steve paused, looking into the other's gaze firmly as he tried to find the words that he needed, only to soon find that he also needed to find the strength to force them out as well. Eventually, he took a deep breath, breaking the silence that had so quickly enveloped them both.

"...I just don't want you to get hurt. You're one of my closest friends, and…this whole champion thing takes people away too easily. I don't want you to be one of them. I just want you to know the truth."

Though Pickett looked at him with a gentle expression for a quick moment, his emotions were soon replaced with a bit of anger.

"You could've said that instead of being rude about it, Steve."

"I...I know. I'm sorry."

"...I think I have a good idea on why you'd be so upset, though."

Steve looked up at Pickett with an intrigued gaze, waiting for the other's explanation.

He wasn't expecting to find...well, anger still there.

"You're mad that you won't get all the nice attention from being a champion anymore, right? You're just mad that once I get that dragon taken care of, you won't be in the spotlight, right?!"

Pickett's abrupt change of mood caused Steve to flinch. Now it was Steve's turn to be utterly bewildered by the other's words.

"...Pickett, what the hell are you talking about?"

Pickett continued to glare at him.

"I'm serious! You're mad that you won't be the only successful champion from this town anymore!"

Pickett was reaching with his accusations. Did he not see his entire reaction to being selected in the first place?

"Pickett, friendly reminder that I didn't even want to be a champion!"

"Yeah, but…look at you now! You think that you're so…better that you really believe that other champions have to get your seal of approval in order to go out too!"

He didn't think he was better. All he really thought he was, in truth, simply lucky.

He was lucky that he shared a face with Herobrine, as it prevented the other from outright murdering him in cold blood. He was lucky that Herobrine and his minions even decided to bring him along with them in such a closer position. He was lucky that they'd even opened up to him, making him feel like more of an actual member of the group rather than just a simple playing piece. He was lucky that he survived. He was lucky that he even had the tools to survive.

With a narrowed gaze of his own, Steve glared at the other.

"Pick, what's your deal? Look, I don't know where all of this is coming from, but I don't think I'm better than anyone." Steve began, holding his hands up in defense. "You're not thinking about things clearly, and I just don't want you to get hurt because of it!"

"I am thinking about things clearly!"

"No you aren't!"

"Am too!"

"Pickett, I'm not arguing with you!"

With a frustrated sigh, Steve forced himself to lower the volume of his voice.

"I'm only going to keep telling you, you need to drop this whole thing. It's not worth putting yourself in danger, and it's certainly not worth your possible death."

"Well, I'm going to keep doing what I was doing, and get better at it so that getting hurt doesn't become an issue!"

"I'm going to recommend that you listen to me."

"Well, I'm going to go train in the forest nearby! At night, so I can keep moving and get to the dragon faster!"

Without another word, Pickett stormed off, leaving Steve staring at him in shock as he watched the other depart abruptly.

Eventually, Steve found his words.

"P-Pickett, wait! Are you serious?!" He said, reaching out to the other as he left through the front door in an angered state.

Pickett slammed the door shut. Steve was now alone in the clinic.

His arm slightly fell as he processed the fact that the other had left, briefly reaching out once again before falling completely to his side. His eyes focused on the door intently, almost as if he was trying to will Pickett's presence back into the room, only to fail spectacularly.

What had he done? Did he just seal Picket's fate himself?

Steve directed his gaze to the floor beneath him, his mind racing as a sense of horror overcame him in response to what he'd just done. Stray beams of light met his vision as he realized that they came from the small gaps in-between the wood of the front door, leading to his focus slowly being shifted to it.

He came to a realization.

"I have to get him back in here." He muttered, immediately beginning to head to the doorway as a rush of emotions hit him all at once.

Suddenly, he found himself freezing completely at the door, his hand just barely hovering over its handle as he kept his gaze focused upon the wood.

What would he even do to convince the other to come back inside? Did Pickett see him as a rival now? An enemy?

Before he took too long to think about it, Steve opened the door and rushed out, breaking into somewhat of a sprint as he quickly went to the village gates and sped out, beginning his search for Pickett.


So, he wasn't originally intending to spend that long looking for the other, but here he was now.

The sun was fully past the horizon, leaving only a gradient of fading blue, pink, and orange in its wake, giving way to the stars that were slowly becoming more and more visible with every passing second. The sky was somewhat cloudy, but the air was certainly quite chilled, causing him to shiver as he walked briskly through the forest, keeping his gaze peeled for any sort of activity whatsoever. Eventually, he came to a point where the forest slowly opened up to the edge of a small cliffside; one that he could easily climb down with no issue that overlooked a lower point of the forest and continued onward into the distance. He didn't dare approach it quite yet, choosing to remain amongst the trees.

"Pickett! He yelled out, looking around frantically as he was met with no response.

He was told that the other was going to the forest, where was he? The man couldn't have truly gotten this far out, had he? Pickett didn't really walk all too fast, there was no way he could've already out-paced him.

Looking up at the darkening sky, Steve began to panic slightly.

"Pickett!" He called out again, finding himself just as successful as before.

There were no signs of movement in the area, nor were there any sounds of struggle, or hell, even mobs. Herobrine was in the area, sure, but at the very least, there should've been a hiss or the clacking of bones this far away from the village, right?

"P-Pickett! I'm serious, I'm sorry if I offended you or whatever, but being out this late is too dangerous!" He cupped his hands around his mouth, still receiving no response.

Suddenly, the sound of shifting leaves came to his attention, causing him to quickly turn to where he assumed that it was coming from: behind him.

"Picket?!" He asked, though he was met with nothing.

A soft breeze shifted through the trees, briefly calling his attention upward as a feeling of disappointment overcame him.

It must've been the wind.

Looking back down to search through the treeline again, just as Steve was about to call the other miner's name, the sound of a branch snapping came to his ears, making him flinch as he turned to the source of the sound, this time coming from his right.

He saw nothing. His hand quickly went to grasp at the handle of his weapon.

"...Pickett?" He asked a bit more quietly.

He didn't really want to, but he forced his legs forward as he walked closer to where the sound had apparently originated from, his gaze widened slightly in fear as he tried to keep his defenses up while moving.

Nothing else followed the snapping noise. He was left in silence, the only thing breaking the deafening atmosphere was the occasional rustling of overhead leaves.

Another step forward, another worried glance around him.

"Pickett?" He called out a little louder, immediately regretting it soon afterward.

"Who are you searching for?"

Abruptly, the silence was broken by a strangely familiar voice.

Flinching at the sudden appearance of a new addition to his party of one, Steve jumped from the spot he was standing in and unsheathed his sword, looking around for the source of the voice for a few seconds before his eyes finally found it.

He knew that face. He knew that voice.

Standing right in front of him, to his absolute shock and confusion, was Joules.

Bewildered vibrant eyes looked over the figure in front of him, earning a small smile from the man in question as he looked up at him, slightly leaning forward while holding his hands behind his back in a sort of inquisitive fashion. A chuckle escaped Joules's lips as Steve remained silent, resulting in the man straightening himself out as Steve could do nothing but watch.

Joules looked rather...extravagant, in a way. A small, orange vest was placed over his white shirt from before, though, the sleeves were still folded halfway up. Brown pants were replaced with almost silky black ones, the ends of which were stuffed into a knee-high pair of similarly orange boots with black accents. Draping over the other's form was a vibrantly orange-red cape, which was trimmed with gold and held in place by a small, golden pendant with a beautiful diamond placed in the middle. His hands were covered by a pair of brown gloves accented with black as well.

Looking up at Joule's face, he realized that the other's hair was now fully down. His focus was soon after completely captivated by the other's eyes.

Now he knew exactly why the other's eyes had thrown him so off.

Initially expecting to find a familiar shade of pure black, Steve was met with something that had essentially forced him into a silent, contactless chokehold the longer he looked into the other's gaze. What was once a full sea of void was now a vibrant ocean of stars, reflecting the dazzling, oncoming night sky above them, though it was entirely possible that this was another universe he was looking into entirely. The other was still missing a set of pupils, sure, but it didn't even matter. The other's eyes were stunning. Divine.

Divine. Divine. There was no way in hell that Joules was anything but a divine being. He'd sell his own two eyes if Joules was human, because surely he wouldn't be needing them anymore if he was being this visually led astray.

"Hello Steve, fancy meeting you here, huh?" Joules greeted with a small wave.

Joules then folded his hands in front of him for only a brief moment, before a look of realization flashed across his gaze, and he went to turn around.

"Ah! I almost completely forgot!" He said, reaching into his cape before somewhat struggling to pull something out of it.

It was his backpack.

Steve was even more bewildered as Joules handed it out to him with a wide grin on his face.

"You left this at my house! I apologize for not getting it back to you sooner, but…you know. Things happen, and all!"

Confused, Steve struggled to sheath his blade, only managing to succeed after a couple of tries. With shaky hands, Steve slowly grabbed the backpack from the other's grasp, carefully taking it as he looked down at the bag, then back up to the other, then back down again as he was trying to process what exactly was going on.

Joules was here. Joules was...here?

The silence that formed in his absence of words was suddenly broken by a quick, but quiet "Oh!" from Joules as he went to dig around in his cape once again. This time, he pulled out a book.

With another chuckle, Joules held it out in his direction, waiting for him to take it.

"You left this out of there, too. I was going to just put it in the bag and not intrude on your personal writings, but...it was already open and I couldn't help myself! I'm truly sorry." Joules gave him a quick bow once he finally took the book from his hands after setting his backpack down on the ground beside him.

The other's thumb had made its way in between the pages of the book onto a particular section as he handed it off, prompting the miner to flip the book open to it. Sure enough, it was the page that Joules himself had been doodled in.

More silence followed before Joules gave the book a small glance, his expression falling into one of slight embarrassment.

"...You were able to tell that I wasn't…well, normal, weren't you?" He asked, waiting for the miner's response.

Steve couldn't find the words to speak.

Joules let out another laugh.

"I guess I'm not that good at disguises, huh? Even you were able to tell that I was...uh…not from around here, so to speak."

More stunned silence followed the other's words as Steve continued to examine him, not yet ready to move on in their conversation as he was still trying to process several things.

Joules was definitely a divine being. Joules had somehow followed him here of all places, which most likely meant that he'd been following after Herobrine. The question was, how did Herobrine not notice him?

Finally, Steve forced his voice out, selecting randomly from the jumbled mess of words that were currently soaring around in his brain.

"How'd...h-how'd you find me?!" He asked, a bit more panicked than what he'd originally intended.

Joules flinched at his fear, holding up his hands defensively and slowly backing away as if to make him feel a bit more comfortable.

"Hey, hey! Calm down, Steve." Joules said gently, actually managing to calm the miner down for a brief moment or so. "I'm not going to hurt you, if that's your main concern. I wouldn't do that, I'm just here to talk, alright?"

Steve allowed his body to relax, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that he was even tensed up in the first place. In his silence, Joules continued.

"You…believe it or not, you kinda have…I dunno, some magical indicator of some sort? It's barely there, but...I felt it from you, and kept feeling it from your belongings. I only tracked it down when I realized that you might've appreciated getting these back sometime soon." Joules nodded his head over to Steve's backpack.

Following his gaze as he gently tossed the book in his hands over to the bag, Steve felt his body grow tense a bit once again.

"You...what kind of indicator?"

Joules shrugged.

"...Yours. I just said that!" He answered with a laugh. "Believe it or not, with your funky eyes, there's quite the little pulse of magic there that I only managed to distinguish from others because I just happened to spend enough time with you to be able to pick it out. You may not be the only champion with those eyes, but you are the only one with a signature that's strong enough to follow."

…He had a signature this entire time? How? How did Herobrine of all people not feel it? Was it his pulse that the other had caught onto?

Reading his confusion, Joules chuckled.

"Don't worry! It's not that noticeable, I'm just more used to looking for those kinds of things. You kinda have to do a double, triple, or even quadruple take to really feel it."

Steve nodded slowly, absentmindedly. He really didn't know how to properly react to the other, all he knew was that Joules was here, and he was apparently not exactly who he said he was. Even so, then why did he feel so...at ease with the other? Joules had lied to him, but he felt no actual threat coming from him. Joules was speaking to him with that calming voice, so was that the reason why none of his mental alarm bells were ringing?

As he continued to examine the divine with a wary expression, Joules let out a sigh, moving to fold his hands in front of him once again. An even more gentle look crossed his gaze.

"I guess I should tell you what I've been meaning to tell you...I'm sorry I left you alone back in Lunarus. All I wanted to do was put you on the right path and show you what the gods were doing. I should've realized sooner that they'd do what they ended up doing."

Steve processed the other's words for a moment, only letting them sink in as he thought back about the events that had taken place in the distant kingdom.

"...You put me in that place on purpose?!" Steve asked somewhat angrily, his face reflecting his sudden frustration.

Joules held his hands up in defense again, his expression fully apologetic.

"I-I just wanted you to know what they were planning! I didn't know how to tell you otherwise, and…ugh, I sincerely apologize." The man bowed to him. "...I'm not all that strategic. I didn't want to alarm you by using any of my powers or switching gears too soon, but…I also didn't want to leave you fully in the dark. I wish I could've gone about things in a different way, I just wanted you to see for yourself and know without a shadow of a doubt how those divines think. Bringing you there in person was the only thing I could think of, but I should've thought harder."

Somewhat surprised that a divine of all beings was bowing down to him but more intrigued by the other's explanation, Steve relaxed his expression, though he was still somewhat upset with him.

"...H-how'd you get me there, anyway?" Steve raised a brow at him.

Joules stood straight up once again, looking at him with an excited glint in his eyes.

"Simple! Want a quick demonstration?"

Steve hesitantly nodded, leading to the other gently grabbing his wrist and dragging him off to a nearby oakwood tree. Stopping just a couple of feet in front of it, Joules let go of Steve, held up his hands to silently instruct the miner to stay in place, and moved to stand just next to the tree, placing his right hand upon its trunk.

"Now, I...well, I don't like to abuse this little trick so much because I know that it kinda messes with the general balance of magic in this world, but…"

Placing his other hand upon the trunk of the tree, Joules walked in front of it, somewhat digging his fingers into the wood. The man began to walk in front of the tree, and, to Steve's utter shock, he began peeling the wood of the trunk along with him. Instead of there being more wood beneath that layer, however, the sight of a familiar space came to Steve's vision, completely breaking his brain as he now struggled to comprehend the fact that it was even there.

Inside the tree was the potion maker's house. Steve stared in bewilderment at the sight of the messy room filled with papers and potions, looking back briefly to Joules for some sort of explanation.

Joules laughed at his expression, stepping away from the tree as he gestured toward the sight.

"I…uh…I can create little dimensional spaces like this, but I only do it from time to time! I just pick a place, and…well, I make a doorway!"

Steve found himself speechless, only nodding his head in response to the information. At least he knew that he hadn't completely lost his mind back in Lunarus when he couldn't find the other's house. Probably.

With a wave of the hand, Joules closed the magical doorway, standing in front of the miner with his hands now folded in front of his body in a polite manner.

"I simply made a few different paths while you weren't looking. It's a bit more difficult to do it while moving, but I'm just glad that the alleyways didn't seem to alarm anyone, ha…" Joules shrugged with a nervous laugh, looking at the miner for his reaction.

Silence followed the little tidbit, leaving Joules nervous as Steve tried to process the information bit by bit.

He knew that Joules was definitely a divine being now, but...of what? What was his title?

"...M-making portals is your thing? You're the god of Portals?" Steve finally managed to force out, his voice still somewhat quiet as he still stood in complete shock.

Joules shook his head.

"Hah…that would make my troubles rather easier if that were the case! But...no." He paused, taking a moment to collect himself before continuing. "My ability is simply to...well, create. I form new life from nothing. Anything that pops into my head, I can make a reality, including areas like uh..my house. I…they call me the god of Innovation, though, I'd say that's a bit of a stretch given that I only create new things every so often, you know."

As Joules finished with a chuckle, Steve could only stare at him in response, taking in the sight of the other before him with a growing sense of pure awe.

"...You're...uh…" Steve forced out, trying to not leave the other in silence out of concern for how he'd appear in front of a person who he now fully deemed as being quite powerful.

Joules nodded his head, seemingly answering the question that the miner was struggling to form into words.

"You've seen quite a few examples of my work, I believe! That potion I gave to you was only one of them."

Steve nodded, collecting his thoughts a bit more coherently before moving forward. There was a pressing question in his mind, and he needed to have it answered.

If Joules wasn't really a human, then...was Joules actually his real name? His real identity? The same situation had happened before with Minos, so who was to say that Joules didn't have a separate name?

"I...I'm guessing that…well, since you aren't exactly who you said you were, then Joules...isn't actually your name, right? Or is it?"

Joules nodded his head, letting out a small laugh afterward.

"I'm guessing that you've met somebody in the past who pulled the same stunt, am I correct?"

"...Yeah. It was another divine. His name was Minos."

Joules nodded his head, his eyes lighting up a bit in acknowledgment.

"I know him, he's my best friend! Minos told me that taking on a human name would cause less suspicion, but I'm not sure if he was right about that!" He exclaimed, shaking off his laughter a bit as he finished.

"...What do I call you then?" Steve asked quietly.

Joules calmed down as he turned his focus back toward the miner, thinking to himself for a moment as he played with the edges of his gloves.

"...Well, I have quite the odd name, actually. I guess tradition would say to use that one, but…I consider you a friend, and…well, friends and family get to call me something else. Friends and family call me Mo."

Steve's eyes widened as he looked back to the other, repeating his words within his head over and over again as he tried to process them slowly.

Mo. This was not Joules, this was Mo. Well, this was Mo and Joules. Mo.

Mo. The name that he'd been hearing from time to time. The name of a god that had been assisting them from the sidelines.

The name of Herobrine's brother. That brother.

Now he knew why Mo's face looked so familiar to him back when they first met. He just wasn't used to seeing it smile in such a kind way so often.

Mo looked more like his brother than their father did. Unlike Maxwell, Mo appeared like he actually was related to Herobrine. Even the other's long hair was similar to the demigod's, though his was black and generally messy in comparison with the other's chestnut brown, more "neat" cut.

"...So you're his brother." Steve mumbled in shock, earning a laugh from Mo in response.

"You're referring to a certain someone, aren't you? Let me guess, about this tall?" Mo raised his hand to about Steve's height. "Longish, brown hair, glowing, white eyes? Name starts with a 'Hero' and ends with a 'brine?'"

"...Y-yeah."

"...Ah, word got around, did it? Well, in case you need further verbal confirmation, then yes, I am his brother." Mo chuckled.

Feeling the shock begin to wear off a bit, Steve let out a small chuckle in response, trying to process the information a bit quicker.

"...You're his brother? Not the other way around?" He said with a bit of a playful tone in his voice, trying to shake off his growing nervousness.

Mo raised a slightly playful brow at him.

"We're getting serious with the specifics, aren't we? I actually consider it an honor to be his brother."

Steve nodded, his face heating up a bit in embarrassment once he realized how poorly his words could've been interpreted.

"I didn't...I-I didn't mean that in a bad way. Just...you know."

Mo nodded, closing his eyes as he did so.

"I get it. You didn't mean anything by it."

Opening his eyes again, Mo looked at Steve with a gentle expression.

"So, how long have you known about me? I didn't really think that you'd ever hear about me, all things considered."

Steve shrugged.

"I…like you said, word just...got around, I guess."

"...Well, since we're getting our prior knowledge about each other out of the way...to tell you the honest truth, I...I kind of knew about you before I…actually met you, too." The divine admitted.

Steve looked at Mo with a bit of a wary smile.

"...You heard about me traveling with Herobrine, didn't you?"

With a bit of a look that suggested a bit of deeper knowledge, Mo glanced off to the side, seemingly debating with himself on whether or not to speak further.

"...I, well, yes, but-"

"-Did you mistake me for him too? Back in Lunarus?"

Mo looked back at the miner and shook his head with an abrupt laugh.

"Goodness, no! I knew you weren't him from the beginning! When I came up to you, I wanted to talk to you, Steve."

"...You...m-me?" Steve stammered, pointing to himself as he was slightly surprised by the other's admission.

Mo nodded.

"I was the one who was closest to him, of course I know the difference between you two! I raised him, taught him to speak, walk, all of that sort of stuff. I also knew that he grew his hair out a bit, so if I were to try looking for him, I'd be looking for a whole 'nother head of brown hair. Also, another set of eyes."

Steve didn't respond, allowing Mo to continue as his expression became a bit saddened.

"...I heard that he'd been injured gravely, but I didn't think it was serious until I found you in Lunarus and you told me that your 'friend' was hurt. I...I originally wanted to meet you just to uh…meet you, but…circumstances changed that up a bit."

Steve nodded at his words.

"...Your potion was very helpful, though. Herobrine was like, ten times better than before after he took it."

Mo hummed.

"Sometimes, the best kind of medicine a divine can take is a bit more pain, you know? Kind of forces you to uh…get restarted in a more natural way. If your body focuses more on the minor injuries, it'll influence itself to begin taking better care of the bigger ones."

Moving to the nearby edge of the cliffside that overlooked the rest of the forest, prompting the miner to trail behind him, Mo went further and sat down just on the edge, allowing his legs to dangle over it before patting the space that was right beside him. Taking a brief second to process the action, Steve slowly began to follow his silent request and sit down as well.

"...Kind of the reason why I told you specifically not to drink it yourself. The pain that Herobrine would feel would be rather muted compared to his other injuries, the pain that you'd feel would be akin to hell on earth." Mo continued.

Steve took in the other's words, letting out a small chuckle.

"He uh...mentioned that too."

Silence followed their words for a few quiet seconds, allowing them to take in the tranquility of their quiet surroundings. The longer Steve remained in Mo's presence, the more relaxed he felt, ultimately resulting in him feeling less anxious and stressed about his current situation. With Mo, everything simply melted away.

Maybe he'd created a space for relief without him noticing it.

"...Were you scared, being pushed around like that in Lunarus?"

Mo's voice broke the silence, causing Steve to momentarily flinch at the sudden noise.

"...A little, yes. I...they confused me for being Herobrine, so I didn't know what they were going to do with me. All I knew was that it wasn't going to be good." He answered quietly.

Mo shook his head slowly, letting out a small frustrated breath through his nose.

"I'd expect Iri to not notice the difference, but…Maxwell? What the absolute hell was going on in his mind? He should've known better, at least."

Steve let out a nervous chuckle.

"M-maybe he thought that if Herobrine was…well, Herobrine, then I might've been that way, too? Especially since I was working with him?"

Mo narrowed his gaze, though, the glare wasn't directed at the miner at all. Instead, it was focused forward to the ground in front of them, perhaps maybe also toward a party that wasn't currently with them.

"...A king should know his subjects. A father should know his son. There's no excuse."

Once again, Steve was able to catch a glimpse of a separate, more darker side of the usually-upbeat divine beside him, causing a brief chill to run down his spine at the sight of the other's intense expression. With every passing second, he was able to see more of a resemblance between Mo and his younger brother, noting the particular intensity of the older sibling's gaze and the shared disdain that both clearly had for their father.

He had eyes full of hatred, of regret, and of pain. Even in that calming reflection of stars, there was a wide array of emotions that Steve honestly didn't expect to see.

Before long, Mo glanced back toward him, and, just as quickly as his expression had fallen, it lit up again, being replaced with a kind smile instead.

"In any case, I'd like to say again, I'm truly, truly sorry that I failed to escort you out of there and just...kind of left you hanging. Can I make it up to you, somehow?"

Curiously, Steve looked at the other.

"...Uh, like how?"

Mo glanced out into the distant forest, soon after switching his gaze to fall upon the stars that laid above it.

"...Whatever you request, I can try and give it to you. But, in addition to that, may I continue to give you helpful information? All I know, quite frankly, about what Herobrine is planning is that it has something to do with the dragon. If that's truly the case, then you need as much assistance as you can get in order for things to go along smoothly. I'd like to speak…well…with you both."

"...I'd have to get Herobrine to come here first somehow, if you need both of us here." Steve said with a laugh, though, upon looking over to the divine's face, all he found was a small, somewhat worried smile.

"...You won't have to search for long."

Steve raised a small brow at him in confusion.

Mo took a few seconds to follow up on his statement.

"...He's here, actually. Just standing off in the trees. His heart is beating a few hundred miles a minute, and if he wasn't immortal, surely, he'd be dead by now with all that cardiac activity."

Mo finished with a laugh, briefly glancing over to the darkness of the forest behind them as Steve followed his gaze.

Sure enough, he briefly saw a pair of glowing, white eyes in the distant treeline, though, they quickly disappeared just as soon as he saw them.

Why was the other being so shy all of a sudden?

"...I want to hear his voice again." Mo said quietly, his voice somewhat a bit shaky as his expression slightly faltered. "...It's been too long since we've spoken personally."

"...What's keeping you, then?" Steve asked gently, looking to the other's gaze as he waited for a response.

"...I…" Mo paused, seemingly struggling to force out his words. "...I'm just worried that he might see me as a threat, of some sort. Everybody else, save for a few, have sided with Maxwell, whether by force or by their own will…I think he has enough reason to believe that I might've as well."

The miner's following question may have been loaded, but nevertheless, he found himself unable to refrain from asking it.

"...How come?"

Mo's expression only grew more saddened.

He didn't expect for the god to actually answer him, seeing how the clear emotional pain on his face suggested something that was too much to bear silently, let alone to actually tell someone that was essentially a stranger about it.

When Mo began to answer him, he was slightly shocked.

"...When we were younger, both of us were subject to a personal kind of hell brought on by our father, Maxwell, as we lived in what we thought was supposed to be heaven. I got the least of it, but I…I sometimes couldn't find the strength to confront Maxwell about what he inflicted upon him. We were both affected by his unjustified wrath, sure, but…he certainly got the worst of it. I should've protected him more." The divine paused his quiet words, messing around with his gloves again as he collected his thoughts. "...Who's to say that he'd have any faith in me now, when I didn't help him then?"

Seeing the other's upset expression, Steve felt a bit sad as well.

He knew that Herobrine had strong feelings about his family's situation, but above all else, he knew for a fact that Herobrine still had genuine respect for his sibling. He got rather upset whenever someone tried to replace that role; it was more than likely that he held that position in such high regard that no other person could possibly even manage to replace it. In all honesty, Mo had nothing to fear.

"...I don't think that he hates you, really." Steve spoke up quietly, his words a bit hesitant as he tried to find the correct ones to use in order to comfort the other. "...He still loves you. A lot, actually."

Mo looked down at him with a brief, surprised gaze before he seemed to relax at the sound of his assuring words.

"...He said something?"

"He said a few things, to tell you the truth. Anytime I tried to talk about you, he treated the issue super seriously."

Mo nodded his head slowly in response, taking a moment to commit his statement to memory before breaking the silence that had formed once again. He gave the miner another kind, appreciative smile.

"...I'm sorry if my words seemed a bit too heavy for you. What's done is done, but...the wounds have not healed yet. It's only natural to worry like this, correct?"

Steve nodded his head.

"...I'd be kinda scared too."

"...I am scared. I know I need to speak with you both, but...I'm scared." The divine paused, bringing a knee up as he went to rest his head upon it. "I feel just as terrified as I had been when he originally went missing…Minus my uncontrollable blubbering and my hours of endless crying, of course."

"...I heard about that. That he uh...left. What was that like?"

Mo let out a small sigh.

"...It was only about a month before his ninth birthday, on the day of one of my endurance tests for my...uh, future coronation. It's still a future one, actually…I completely fell apart when he left."

Steve nodded at the information, briefly being reminded of the fact that Mo was, indeed, the son of a literal king. He looked out to the forest in front of him before switching focus to the stars as well.

"...Do you want me to get him?"

Mo looked to Steve with briefly widened eyes before shaking his head.

"You don't need to do that. He'll come up to us on his own, eventually."

Steve let out a small, unsure hum.

"...I think the fact that he hasn't yet says otherwise."

Mo directed his attention back to the forest behind them, looking at it with a worried expression.

"Oh goodness. I can't tell if he's angered or frightened or whatever from here. All I know is that he's definitely feeling something intense."

Steve began to stand up.

"Then let me drag him over here. He might not like it, but we'll be here for several days at this point if he doesn't come here!"

Mo looked up at him with a bit of a questioning expression.

"Weren't you doing something just moments earlier? Wouldn't you rather prefer to get that over with before I keep you here for too long?"

Thinking that this was another attempt to stall the inevitable, Steve opened his mouth, only to pause and think over the other's words for a moment before he even got the chance to continue trying to get the other to confront his sibling.

Mo might've been trying to distract him, but he was right.

"Ah! Pickett! I almost forgot!" Steve exclaimed, abruptly moving away from the other as his eyes began to dart around the area.

Looking up at him with a somewhat surprised expression due to his outburst, Mo watched him panic-pace around a bit before standing up slowly himself, approaching him carefully before placing a gentle hand upon his shoulder. As Steve recognized the fact that the hand was even there in the first place, he looked back, staring into the other's calming, ethereal gaze.

"We'll find him, don't worry."

Mo thought to himself for a moment, looking away briefly before returning his gaze to the miner.

"You know, earlier, I had quite the interesting little chat with a man here in the forest. Do you believe that it may have been him?"

"What did he look like?"

"Tall and fit, strong arms, short brown hair, green eyes, iron sword at his hip?"

"...Sounds like him."

"He was stumbling about, upset about a certain someone. I found him, talked with him a bit, and sure enough, I do believe he was speaking about you." Mo said with a slightly nervous smile as he thought back to his earlier conversation. "...He was being so careless going outside without even having a light to help keep the monsters at bay, so before he could get himself hurt, I convinced him to turn around and simply calm himself down in a safer location."

With a sigh of relief that he hadn't been expecting to release, Steve clasped his hands in front of himself and bowed in front of the other.

"Oh thank you. Thank. You!" Steve said with great appreciation, soon after standing back up again. "Please teach me your ways, I made him mad, and he wouldn't listen to me after that."

Mo laughed at him.

"He was simply mad because, well, according to him, he thought that you didn't actually believe in him, or something along those lines."

Steve shook his head.

"With how things have gone for me...I don't think that people would be all too kind to him. Especially now. It's not that I don't believe in him, it's just...the odds aren't really great."

Mo nodded at his words.

"In any case, it'd still be good for you to talk to him yourself, you know? I can come with you to make it easier."

'Look who's talking.' Steve thought to himself, though, he kept his words within as he gave the other a simple hum in response.

"I...I don't know how he's going to react to you again now that you're with me, but I guess we'll see, correct?" The miner asked with a small shrug.

Mo looked at him with surprise that melted away into his previous gentle expression.

"...Are you saying that you'd prefer to find him yourself?"

Steve paused, casting his gaze to the ground before nodding slowly in response.

"...He's in one out of three or four places, and I'm thinking that the fourth place was only a distraction."

Mo took in his words and nodded in response, removing his hand from the miner's shoulder.

"So, this is a task you'll be taking alone?"

"He's either in the mines, the meadery, or the quick clinic, since he's not here. I'll find him, eventually. I just have to pick which place to go to first, honestly."

Before Steve could even think about continuing his search, he gave the other a slightly frustrated expression, though it was rather weak.

"...You thought that I'd forget about getting Herobrine over here, didn't you?"

The divine looked at him with a nervous expression, now knowing that his attempt to lead the other away from him had failed.

"I...Wouldn't it be better to talk to your friend, first?"

"...Pickett's still getting trained to be even confirmed as a champion. I think I can spare a few minutes for this, Mo. Sorry." Steve said hesitantly, earning a small sigh from the other.

He wanted to find Pickett, but he also didn't want Herobrine and Mo's current opportunity to talk with each other to slip away so soon.

"...If he can be convinced...then I suppose that I can wait for him instead of the other way around. I...I don't want to be the first to speak up, to be honest." Mo said.

Turning away to head back into the forest, Steve let out a small laugh as he gave the other a brief glance before continuing forward.

"That might end up being the case anyway, he's probably not ready either!" He warned the other with a smile, walking off into the darkness before him.

Hearing a distant hum from Mo in response, Steve disappeared into the treeline, beginning to scan the area around him for a familiar pair of white (or potentially silver) eyes.

He didn't have to search for long, as Mo had said would be the case, as when he finally got far enough away from the older divine, he was stopped in his tracks completely by Herobrine suddenly approaching him from behind a nearby tree, darting past the bushes in order to reach him.

When he finally reached him, the demigod stared directly into his eyes with a visibly emotional gaze, obviously quite affected by the sudden appearance of his sibling in the area. Words went unspoken until Steve went to clear his throat, finding himself feeling rather nauseous as it soon became apparent that Herobrine, whether subconsciously or not, was using his abilities to make absolutely certain that no mobs were even remotely present to interrupt the moment.

"...So, someone...interesting showed up." Steve said with a nervous laugh.

"I know that!" Herobrine exclaimed, a bit louder than what he intended. "Why...why the hell did he come to you?!"

Steve shrugged, slightly backing away from the other as it was clear that he was a bit…well, not alright.

"I don't know! Well, I do, but…" Steve exhaled through his nose. "Look, apparently, I have one of those signature thingies, and...he wanted to bring my things back to me and tell us both something for some reason, and I just...he tracked me down. He probably felt you and your...aura, or whatever, off of me, and actually followed that."

Herobrine looked at him with genuine surprise in his gaze.

"How...how did he find your things?"

Steve let out another sigh.

"Remember the potion maker I told you about? That was him."

Herobrine's eyes suddenly lit up with both surprise and deep appreciation, though his gaze slightly fell as he resumed their conversation.

"So...he…he wants to talk with us?"

Steve nodded his head slowly.

"...Apparently. Didn't even say just you. Us. All of his gifts have been for you and you alone, so I don't even know why he'd even consider me here."

"...He was at the festival. Claymore mentioned that, didn't he?" Herobrine brought up.

Steve thought back for a moment before nodding his head again.

"He might've just included me because I am a bigger part of all this, now. Might be too important to just leave me out of it, I guess."

Herobrine looked away from the miner, glancing downward as he absentmindedly nodded his head at his words. The demigod moved to wrap his cape a bit tighter around his body, seemingly in an effort to calm his own nerves more than anything else. With a quiet, shaky sigh, he glanced back forward, though his focus remained fixated on the ground.

"...I don't want to speak to him."

A look of disbelief appeared on Steve's face, but before he could say anything, Herobrine shook his head, closing his eyes momentarily as a more frustrated, somewhat saddened sigh escaped his mouth.

"No, I…that's incorrect. I...I want to speak to him, but...it's hard."

Relief came over Steve, though he was still rather intrigued by the other's words.

"...Why? He's your brother." Steve asked, earning another small sigh from Herobrine.

"I just…"

The demigod looked out into the distant forest, seemingly lost in thought before his gaze slightly lowered in intensity, his silver eyes becoming visible once again.

"...I'm not scared of most things. I'm not affected by many things." Herobrine paused, looking down before continuing in a slightly more hushed voice. "...I'm absolutely terrified about possibly earning the ire of my brother. I'm terrified of making him disappointed, or...well, I'm afraid of losing his love for me. I don't want him to see me like this."

Herobrine's words were so soft, so...genuine. There was legitimate terror in his voice, almost slight hesitation in his words as he struggled to reveal his innermost fears to the miner. Though he was committed to finishing his statement, it was evident that this was something extremely difficult for the demigod to admit, even though he wasn't really obligated to say anything.

Steve didn't really know what to say. He understood the feeling well enough, not wanting to appear at your worst in front of the ones you loved more than anything else, but...this seemed to be rather different. While he had a decent support system behind him (hopefully), Herobrine didn't really have anything more than his mobs, in all actuality. Should his brother actually disown him, there was no one else he could turn to.

Sure, Steve was trying to fix that, but right now, a confrontation turning sour was something that neither of them needed at the moment. He doubted that would even happen, if what Mo himself said was to be taken into consideration, but nevertheless, it wasn't an ideal outcome.

"...That's kind of strange, honestly." Steve spoke up, earning a brief, direct glare from Herobrine.

Before the demigod could say anything, Steve held up a hand to silence him.

"I say that because I literally just talked to him, and he said the same thing about you. You're worried about upsetting him, he's worried about upsetting you."

"...Why?" Herobrine asked in a slightly hushed manner.

Steve shrugged.

"...You both really care about each other I guess."

Herobrine looked away as he thought to himself for a minute or so, debating with himself silently as he allowed the miner's words to truly settle into his mind.

With a weak, but determined expression, Herobrine looked back at the miner.

"...Then…then let's get this over with."

Steve, though relieved at the fact that he didn't have to try and drag the other kicking and screaming to his brother, looked at the demigod with a somewhat amused expression.

"...Right now? Are you sure?"

Herobrine nodded his head.

"If I…if I don't hear what he thinks or what he's going to say, I'll never know a moment of peace ever again."

Steve let out a small hum, nodding his head back over to the part of the forest that he'd left not too long ago.

"...I think he's still waiting for us. C'mon." He said softly, beginning to walk forward as Herobrine followed not too far behind him.


Okay, so ngl, I was debating on whether or not I should reveal Joules's actual identity this early, but I figured that seeing how things are gonna move on from this point and what I want to include in the upcoming chapters, it was about time haha

So! Now we know who Herobrine's brother actually is! Lol, remember when I said that I just made up another character to act as Herobrine's brother to keep that part of the lore intact? Mo/Joules was that character! He's Herobrine's older brother here, and he's a real goofball lol. Cares very deeply for him, too. Care deeply for a lot of things lol, which is quite the decent trait considering the fact that he's literally next in line to become ruler of the Aether!

Fun Facts!:

1.) Mo is the god of Innovation! He's also just referred to as being the one of Creation too, interchangeably. His signature "ability" so to speak is called the "Breath of Life," though, he doesn't just use his breath lmao. He's basically in charge of creating new things to place into the different realms, such as plant life, concepts, and, of course, lifeforms! He can create anything within reason with his own two hands. All he needs to do in order to bring something to life is to use his ability, which is basically just putting a bit of himself into an inanimate object or a lifeless creation. Whether it's a single breath, blood, or even tears, anything can be used to give life.

2.) Despite being the god of Innovation/Creation, he is not the one who created the different realms! The higher gods (mentioned previously) did all that lol.

3.) In case you haven't realized it yet, "Mo" is just short for Mojang, lmao. He got that nickname bc "Mo" also sounds like "More," and his ability is just creating more things haha

4.) Mo spends a lot of time in the Overworld to get a sense of the kind of things he should create in the future! Though, he often likes to get involved in human situations just to help others lmao. People want to charge a lot for healing injuries? Come to Mo, he'll do it for free! Can't manage to build your own house? Mo will do it for you! He just asks for goodwill and happiness in return, lol. Want to fight someone bad but you can't actually do it? Mo can get involved every once in a while, he just won't do anything fatal.

5.) Don't think for a second that Mo is entirely the "good" brother here, he's fully capable of being just as much of a public menace as Herobrine, it's just that taking care of the demigod and being amongst the humans gave him more of a sense of compassion and mercy. He's fully willing to throw hands with other divine beings though if it comes down to it lol. While he won't kill due to his status as being next in line to the Aethren throne, he'll definitely knock someone unconscious and put them out of commission for a fat minute!

6.) Speaking of being Aethren royalty, the leadership system in the Aether is a bit more complicated than your usual bloodline stuff. Leaders are chosen by the higher gods based on their capabilities; they aren't given the crown due to succession. Maxwell was given the crown due to his ability to guide others with light and his strategic capabilities, but Mo was chosen to be next in line due to the higher gods acknowledging his ability to create and bring any idea into existence.

7.) Nobody in the Aether is quite sure of who hates Maxwell more, Herobrine, or Mo. It's public knowledge tho, lol.

8.) Yes, Mo's ability is the one that Herobrine first copied lol. When he did, it was kind of a terrifying thing for Herobrine bc he honestly thought that using it meant that his brother had died somehow, and that's why he couldn't use any powers before T_T. A couple of the reasons why Herobrine's version of the ability is so messed up though and causes that little corruption side-effect is because a.) He generally uses tears as his "Breath of Life", which often can't be controlled like single breaths, and b.) Mo's ability is one of the hardest to use due to its general complexity.

9.) Mo doesn't have a potion-making license, but he's trying to get one. He's definitely going to use that to introduce himself instead of saying that he's the king of the Aether lmao

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