Chapter 40: Understanding


The second that Herobrine's eyes met Mo's, Steve knew that he'd placed himself into a situation that was more personal than what he was comfortable with.

While Mo had remained near the forest cliffside, looking at the distant trees in deep anticipation, Herobrine was currently partially hidden behind the trunk of an oak tree, peering around the wood with slightly widened eyes. Though Steve was in front of him, out in the open, it seemed like Herobrine was fighting with himself on deciding whether or not he should actually step out. As soon as Mo realized that Herobrine was even there, he turned around, firmly meeting the demigod's gaze.

Steve looked back at Herobrine with a small smile, a bit amused at the sight of the other's nervousness. Herobrine looked at his brother with an expression that was equally as curious as it was cautious.

Steve raised a hand, gesturing for Herobrine to remove himself from the shadows and come closer.

"...Unless you wanna yell things out and wake up the village, you might wanna get close enough to talk to him, Brine."

Silence followed his suggestion for a few moments before the other complied, stepping out from behind the tree out into the open, slowly beginning to approach the older divine that was waiting for them.

The forest was quiet, though, they could really thank Herobrine's current emotions and forced influence upon the mobs for that. The demigod let out a small, determined sigh as he willed his own two feet forward, thinking to himself intently as he walked. He stopped just a few feet away from Mo, finding himself physically unable to move any closer. As his gaze focused solely on the presence of the other, a few seconds passed by before he found himself slowly becoming unable to handle the silence for any moment longer.

Before Herobrine could gather the courage to actually speak, Mo had already closed the distance, his arms quickly wrapping themselves tightly around his body as he pulled him into an intense, loving hug.

The way Mo held the demigod made it seem like he was trying to absorb the other in an attempt to never let him out of his sight again. Herobrine was slightly forced to bend his knees due to the other's strong embrace, leading to him awkwardly trying to tap his brother's shoulder in an attempt to be released. After a few moments of failure, Herobrine simply gave up, leaning into the hug as he slowly buried his face into Mo's shoulder.

Steve smiled at the sight, finding himself somewhat relieved that he hadn't been wrong about how the two felt about each other. It was heartwarming to know that he'd managed to get this to happen, no matter how small his role actually was in the matter.

After a few more moments of silent appreciation for his sibling's presence, Mo eventually caused Herobrine to buckle under his weight, causing them both to fall down. With a yelp of surprise from Herobrine as they collapsed, Mo finally took his cue to relax his grip upon his brother, letting out a sheepish laugh in response as he slowly sat back up.

"S-sorry, sorry! I just…I haven't seen you in a while!" Mo apologized, earning a small glare from the other in response.

Herobrine's gaze was not serious, just briefly annoyed.

"You did this the last time too, you just got us quicker down on the ground back then. I know you're not sorry."

"Hey, quick reminder, back then, I hadn't seen you for nine years. You were lucky I didn't break any bones, honestly."

"You dislocated my shoulder."

"...It got better, didn't it?"

With a shaky sigh that soon became a relieved laugh, Herobrine glanced up at the other, slowly sitting up himself as his gaze soon became filled with what appeared to be a mixture of both calmness and affection.

"...I missed you." Herobrine started quietly. "I know it hasn't been too long, but...it's been long enough."

Mo nodded in agreement.

"A year. One long, tortuous year."

After a few seconds of silence followed their words, Mo abruptly went to bring Herobrine back into a strong hug, pulling Herobrine's face into his chest carefully with a gentle hand.

"Please never do this again! I've been stupid worried about you, you know."

Though Herobrine briefly tried to pull away for a second, he soon simply closed his eyes and relaxed into the other's embrace. A few seconds of calm silence passed before a quiet sigh left Herobrine's lips, causing Mo to look down at him with slight curiosity in his eyes.

Muffled, Herobrine spoke.

"...Would it surprise you to hear that I've been worried about you too?"

Mo gave him a soft chuckle, beginning to run his fingers carefully through the other's hair, grimacing slightly as he came across a few tough knots.

"Me?...You're the one who's going out and doing dangerous, morally questionable things. What do you have to worry about concerning me?"

"...You know what I do, and you're okay with it?"

Mo took a moment to think to himself before shaking his head.

"...I'm not. Well, with the killing part, at least. I know the Aether doesn't really flinch at the loss of mortal life, but if you'd please take the time to consider merely knocking people out instead of outright evisceration, like what I do, that'd be lovely."

Herobrine let out a small hum, briefly tensing up a bit as his brother came across another knot in his hair, soon after letting out another sigh.

"...I'm worried about how my actions affect you. Your status. Your mind." Herobrine admitted further.

"My mind is sound, and I couldn't care less about what the other divines think of me. Control yourself a bit more, and I'll sleep perfectly at night."

Mo paused, thinking to himself for a brief second before moving to hug Herobrine a bit tighter.

"...I know this…mission is important to you, but…could you maybe…reconsider?" He asked, somewhat nervous for the other's response.

Herobrine left him in tense silence before making a small attempt to pull away from him slowly.

"...I…I have to see this through. You know this."

Slowly, Mo allowed Herobrine to sit back up, placing his hands on his shoulders once the demigod was firmly sitting up.

"...I know, and I hate it...Could you have at least explained to me in detail what you were planning? Truly? A heads-up would've been nice…"

Herobrine averted his gaze from the other, casting his line of sight to the ground beside him. Before he could muster up the courage to speak once again, a quiet laugh came from Mo as he patted his shoulders, gaining his attention once more.

"...We can discuss that in a minute. Right now, I want to make sure that you've been doing okay, down here. You're using the limiters I sent you, yes? I know that you've met with Claymore once or twice, so did you manage to get them from him?"

Herobrine visibly relaxed even more at the change of topic, raising his gloved hands to show the other the bands that were around his wrist.

"I have, yes. They're giving me some more active control over myself." Herobrine paused, lowering his hands as he glanced off to the side a bit with a slightly embarrassed expression. "...Thanks."

Mo smiled at him.

"Hey, no need to be all embarrassed. I wasn't exactly a magical prodigy myself, you know." Mo winked at him. "Besides...you've always had a strong sensitivity to magic, so...I only guessed that the balance shift down here would make things worse for you."

Herobrine nodded slowly.

"...It did."

Mo glanced up to Steve, smiling at him as well.

"How are you doing? I know that we just spoke, but…it never hurts to double-check, correct?"

Steve let out a small laugh.

"I'm fine! I'm fine. Don't mind me, I'm…surviving."

Mo nodded, turning his attention back upon Herobrine.

"It's great to hear that both of you are holding up down here. The Aether, believe it or not, is getting to be rather suffocating. I can barely stand it."

"Is that why you're down here? Why you've been down here?" Herobrine asked.

Mo shrugged.

"...Sort of. I couldn't handle the atmosphere up there, sure, but...I was kinda searching for you. You left so abruptly so soon after you finally returned to me…I didn't know what to do."

With a look of shame, Herobrine turned away from the other.

"...I…"

The other divine held up a hand to silence him.

"...I understand why you did it, though."

Mo kept looking at him with a sympathetic expression before a small laugh escaped his lips.

"...The atmosphere up there has only gotten worse because of the recent balance shifts across each world. I've been at least doing my part to fix that!"

As Mo gave him a smile, Herobrine briefly looked around, furrowing his brow in thought before beginning to stand up. Once firmly standing, he gave Mo a raised, suspicious brow.

"...You didn't create another pocket space, did you?" Herobrine asked, crossing his arms across his chest as he interrogated the other.

Mo looked at him with nervous eyes.

"I...uh…" He thought to himself for a moment before letting out a nervous chuckle. "If anything, it…uh, wasn't that big?"

Steve glanced at him curiously.

"...Wasn't it like, two stories or whatever?" He asked.

Mo, with a forced smile, briefly glanced over to Steve as he spoke, drawing his hand across his throat in a quick gesture in order to stop the miner from saying anything further. Needless to say, it didn't work, and Herobrine responded to Steve's question with a small hum. Soon after, Herobrine narrowed his gaze at the older god.

"...Two stories, Mojang?"

Mo shook his head excessively, his smile faltering.

"It was a bit bigger than a small room, but …y'know! Steve may be remembering things a bit wrong!"

Herobrine glanced over to Steve abruptly.

"It was two stories, wasn't it?"

Was he supposed to pick a side here?

Steve looked at the demigod, briefly debating himself on whether or not to tell the truth before remembering just how easy it was for Herobrine to tell the difference.

"...Yes."

Mo erupted into a fit of coughs, choosing to bury them in his arm.

"Snitch." He coughed out, sending Steve a quick glance before dropping his act, composing himself as he tried to appear more innocent than he was.

"One of us has to be." Herobrine stated with a shrug. "It's vital to our operation. And besides…"

Herobrine gave his brother a somewhat disappointed expression.

"...You…couldn't you feel how horrendous the balance gets after using that kind of magic here? Isn't it hard for you to use your powers?"

Mo shrugged.

"...It takes more energy than usual, I guess. Training helped me with adjusting myself, and all.

With a long sigh, Herobrine turned away from the other.

"...Why'd you form one here?"

Mo held up a finger.

"Uh…actually, if we're being honest here, it was more than one. At the very least, I made the end location in a place here within Minecraftia."

Herobrine continued to glare at him.

"...Do you know how little that narrows things down? Anywhere could mean either minutes or miles away from where we're standing right now."

Mo let out a sigh.

"...It's somewhere in Lunarus. I needed a place to operate freely. In the Aether, I'm the soon-to-be crowned king, but down here...I'm just a humble potion maker. I wanted to be able to work in a place that suited all my needs, and…well, that one fit perfectly."

"Because you made it. Why not just…find one that already exists?" Herobrine asked.

"...Yeah wait, that's a good point." Steve spoke up, glancing over at Mo curiously. "Even if it cost money, couldn't you just...y'know, make some? That's your power, right?"

Mo thought to himself for a moment, soon after letting out a nervous laugh in response.

"...Never thought about that, honestly."

Abruptly, Mo stood up, clapping his hands together once he did so.

"Anyway, I...let's get to discussing why I wanted to speak with you both. I can't keep you two here for long, anyway."

Steve and Herobrine gave each other a brief glance.

Somehow, they were both aware of the fact that Mo was simply trying to drive any and all attention away from what he'd done. It wasn't just that he wanted to get back on topic.

Glancing over at Herobrine, Mo drew somewhat closer to him, oblivious of the look of suspicion that he'd directed his way for just a second.

"...You never really...explained it all to me. Your plan." Mo started. "All I know, frankly, was that you somehow found out that the End was collapsing soon, and just…well, took things into your own hands."

"...The dragon needs to be taken care of, for good. It's too weak to keep using like this." Herobrine began quietly.

The other divine let out a small hum, thinking to himself for a bit before looking back at the demigod.

"...I-I could simply create a stronger dragon! Wouldn't that be easier than...well, putting you at risk?" Mo asked cautiously, a certain gleam of hope in his eyes as he spoke.

Herobrine shook his head, causing that gleam to fizzle out.

"Do you not remember the last time it had to be replaced? The time before that, as well? You were alive for both revivals, I was only present for one, and yet, both dragons ended up dying, didn't they? The higher gods themselves formed the creature, they always direct its revival, and yet, its destruction still comes. Do you not realize what that means?"

Mo looked off to the side, his gaze troubled.

"...Of course I know what it means."

"...The dragon isn't a perfect solution. If the higher gods themselves couldn't create something that worked, then how could you?"

Mo thought about his words, taking them in carefully before his eyes lit up again in realization.

"...My purpose is to create. What if...what if my powers are more exact?"

Herobrine gave the other a raised brow.

"Mojang, don't tell me that you think the higher gods made you more powerful than themselves. What kind of logic is that?"

Steve briefly glanced in between the two in confusion for a moment before realization flashed across his gaze.

Oh. So that was his full name.

Mo gave Herobrine a sheepish smile as the excitement in his eyes died out.

"Who knows?" He said with a small shrug.

Herobrine let out a groan.

"If that was the case, we'd already be dead. They can't even step outside of the cathedral, how would you manage to get here?"

Mo let out a sigh of defeat.

"...You're right, but Brine, I…we can at least try-"

"-For what? What if the dragon fails quicker? What if we have to do all of this all over again? Mo, we have to do something about this, and I believe that the only solution here is to take its place ourselves. Well...whoever can manage to, at least." Herobrine interjected, glancing over at Steve for a brief moment.

The other divine took in his words deeply for a minute or so, glancing off to the side as he processed the offered solution.

With a serious gaze, Mo looked back at the demigod.

"...So, I'm assuming that you do know the stakes here, yes?" Mo asked quietly.

Herobrine nodded his head firmly.

"Should we fail, the worlds we all reside in will cease to be."

Mo let out a hum as he nodded in response.

"...Meaning that this, truly, is a 'do or die' sort of situation. Maxwell, with his approach to the problem, runs quite the risk since I think we all know fairly well that he'd never try to become the Inhibitor himself. He'd never make that kind of potential sacrifice. He's more focused on getting rid of you."

Herobrine scoffed.

"He couldn't even put aside his own ego to treat anyone other than himself as more than a means to an end. He won't put himself out there at all."

Mo nodded, his expression falling as his voice lowered slightly.

"...The humans will certainly be destroyed should any of them even manage to successfully defeat the dragon. Prior exposure to magic won't help them, but...Maxwell doesn't care."

Steve's eyes slightly widened in response to Mo's words.

So…he'd be able to travel through the portal, but he wouldn't survive taking the dragon's place? The world was doomed? If he couldn't do it, then would Herobrine have to do it for him? Would he fail as well?

What were they fighting for?

Catching his worried gaze, Mo walked closer to Steve, placing a small hand upon his shoulder in an attempt to break him out of his thoughts.

"...Steve, you're okay. We're more involved with you than the others are involved with the other champions. If anything, you'll have a better chance of succeeding than most."

Not really feeling all too comforted, an abrupt laugh of disbelief left Steve's mouth before he flinched at this own volume, soon lowering it significantly.

"A better chance doesn't really mean a lot when it comes to risking the end of the world, don't you think?!" Steve whispered harshly, earning a small laugh from Mo in response.

"You…you might be right about that." The divine responded, pulling away from the miner once again.

Standing in front of the two, Mo let out a small sigh.

"...You guys." Mo spoke up, glancing between Herobrine and Steve. "If this plan doesn't work, then everything will fade away into nothingness. We will be wholly consumed by the Void, our names forgotten, our existences null."

As Herobrine nodded slowly at the other's words, Steve let out a shaky sigh, forcing a joking smile onto his face.

"Like we didn't need any more pressure than what we already had, ha…" He let out a small laugh as he finished.

Mo looked at him with an apologetic expression.

"My apologies. I know things are already as immensely stressful as they can be. My words weren't meant to be insensitive."

"Oh, I knew they weren't! You don't need to apologize." Steve clarified with a small smile, holding up his hands as he spoke.

"Still…" Mo began. "...If…if the world does truly fall away, then…then I have to tell the truth about…quite a bit, actually."

Herobrine and Steve glanced at each other, confusion evident in their gazes. Not long after, they turned back toward Mo.

"...Elaborate." Herobrine essentially commanded the other.

Quietly, Mo reached into a small bag at the side of his hip, digging around in it for a moment before pulling something spherical out.

Herobrine and Steve were surprised to find an ender pearl in the other's hand.

"...I know that I've warned you about what the Aether is doing concerning these pearls, correct?"

Herobrine nodded slowly, looking up to lock eyes with the other.

"...Is there anything else that we need to worry about?"

"A letter couldn't really explain the true danger that we're in. Take a closer look at this one."

With a bit more concern in his gaze, Herobrine did as the other told him to do. Not too long afterward, he abruptly grabbed the pearl from Mo's palm, looking at it closely as panic soon appeared in his expression. Flinching at the sudden movement, Steve looked at Herobrine with a growing sense of added panic.

"...Don't tell me that it's something bad." Steve said, feeling dread starting to creep into his system.

Herobrine presented the pearl to Steve, causing the miner's eyes to widen slightly in shock as he finally realized what had gotten the demigod so concerned.

A good part of the pearl's underside was cracked, though, what shocked the two more was the fact that the cracked portion of the pearl was blackened.

"...W-what…what is that?" Steve asked, pointing to the small cracks.

"...I…I'm not sure." Herobrine mumbled, looking to Mo for further guidance.

"...I went to Claymore to see if he had any idea about it, and he said that it was a sure sign of our time here running out. I talked to Minos, and he confirmed it."

"...Minos knows something about this?" Herobrine asked in a surprised manner.

Mo nodded his head.

"...Unfortunately. That black stuff there is 'void residue,' or something of the sort. Only starts coming around when the End realm starts to get at its point of no return. He said that the void is growing 'louder,' whatever that means."

Gingerly, Herobrine ran a finger against the surface of the pearl, trailing the cracks as his bright gaze grew somewhat saddened.

"...The endermen are suffering."

"In any case, there's a chance that it might be harder to get their pearls from them. The individual who managed to extract this one had to go through two or three endermen before the one that held this pearl, and they…something strange happened with them." Mo's voice grew hushed as he spoke, earning a small hum from Herobrine in return.

"They devolved into feral beasts, I'm assuming. Too much stress, in addition to that. The pearls shattered on their own, didn't they?" Herobrine asked, glancing up to Mo for confirmation.

With a solemn nod, Mo let out a sigh.

"...They dropped dead. There was nothing left to salvage. A cruel advantage for you, if you choose to see it like that."

"I won't choose to look at the situation like that, frankly." Herobrine bit back. "It's...they don't deserve this. They're the victims here. They're getting confused, and lost, and...they won't know why. Not for a while, at least. It's just tragic."

Herobrine's voice made it seem like his heart was absolutely breaking for the endermen, made even more evident by the demigod absentmindedly bringing the pearl even closer into his body, almost as if he was shielding it despite its current state. Looking down at the pearl, Herobrine let out a small sigh.

"...This makes things difficult for us, as well. It's already hard to speak with the endermen and to get them to cooperate. We…I do believe that we need these pearls intact, as well. We don't want to kill more endermen than we need in order to activate the portals."

Mo looked at Herobrine with a slightly surprised gaze.

"Did you finally manage to figure out what's needed in order to activate them?"

Herobrine raised a brow at him.

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

Mo shook his head.

"Maxwell knows that I'd tell you everything I knew about the End in a heartbeat, so he's kept me out of his council meetings on that part. I tried getting the higher gods to tell me but…they said it wasn't time for me to learn about the End portals, yet. The End is located somewhere within the Void, so I can't teleport in there, either. I've been trying to do research down here, but I've had no luck, either. I know that you'll be needing something from either the Overworld or the Nether, though."

Looking at Mo with widened eyes for a brief second, Herobrine let out a small sigh of disappointment.

"So the higher gods are planning on continuing the cycle, too?"

Mo shrugged.

"They're acting like it."

Moving to caress the broken pearl once again, Herobrine focused his gaze upon it, his eyes narrowed in deep thought.

"...I feel like I'm drowning. Everyone wants to keep things normal, allowing the endermen to suffer for the sake of their own sense of normativity, and nobody wants to consider other options...nobody wants to listen to me."

Deep thought suddenly became deep frustration.

"...Like always."

Mo looked at his younger sibling with a saddened expression.

"...I'm listening to you, brother. I'm always listening for your voice."

Looking up at Mo with a bit of a thankful smile, Herobrine let out a hum.

"...I know. You tried your best to do your own research to help me, so trust me, I know." The demigod's expression slowly fell once again. "...Why can't the Aether follow their future king?"

"Because the current king is trying his damndest to stop them from doing so. Even if it's not in their best interest, they're forced to listen to him." Mo said with a bit of frustration in his tone. "...The higher gods might not make it in time, should the End truly collapse and you fail in your mission. Maxwell hasn't made the proper preparations, and he's keeping everybody from even trying to make things right due to his obsession with you."

As silence soon formed in between them, Herobrine took another glance at the pearl within his hands, running his thumbs across the cracks this time before slowly, carefully, placing the pearl upon the ground beneath him.

Soon after, the demigod broke the silence with a string of strange sounds, though Steve eventually came to the realization that he'd heard something similar to them not too long ago. Only barely recognizing the strange language as being whatever the endermen had been using, Steve was thrown into further confusion when another language began to leave the demigod's lips, these few being spoken in a soft whisper.

Once Herobrine was finished, he placed his boot upon the pearl's edge, seemingly hesitating to follow through with his actions before quickly coming to a decision, smashing the pearl beneath his foot into fractured bits and pieces.

Seeing the intrigued expressions of the other two, Herobrine let out a small sigh of annoyance.

"...Ender. Aethren. I'm paying my respects to the fallen. It's also pointless to carry around a damaged pearl like this, anyways."

Mo crossed his arms in front of his chest in what seemed to be a bit of amusement.

"I understood the Aethren bit, but...what'd you say before that?"

"...Your song will ring beyond the void." Herobrine spoke to Mo directly in the second language that Steve had caught, leading him to realize that this was the Aethren language that they'd been talking about.

Mo gave Steve, who was looking a bit lost, a quick glance, soon turning back to Herobrine with a raised brow.

"Why not translate for both of us? Steve here heard you too." The older divine asked, pointing to the miner with his thumb.

Herobrine huffed.

"...Mortals can't even begin to comprehend our language. If he wants to know what I said so badly, he can figure it out himself."

Mo, without a beat, turned to face Steve.

"Your song will ring beyond the void. That's what he said." He told Steve with a kind smile, earning a harsh glare from Herobrine in return.

"What did I just say?!" Herobrine somewhat whined out, bringing a laugh to Mo's lips.

"I'm just messing with you. That's what big brothers are for, aren't they?"

Herobrine cast an annoyed glance off to the side.

"...Weren't we talking about the pearls?"

With another laugh, Mo nodded his head.

"Yes, yes. I do believe that we were."

Looking at the broken pearl that lay by his feet, Herobrine's gaze grew a bit softer.

"...We need something from the Nether, I'm guessing, since nothing here could possibly cause any sort of reaction apart from a potential shattering. I'm not sure what we need exactly, but...whatever it is, we need to find out soon, I'm afraid."

Mo gave him a small shrug.

"If anything, I think that what you're looking for might be something brewable. Potions are some of the most universally used bits of magic, so it could be safe to say that if it could tolerate the brewing stand, it can tolerate reforging."

Looking up at his brother with an intrigued gaze, Herobrine let out a hum.

"...I honestly haven't thought about that, and you might be correct. What do you suppose the missing ingredients might be?"

Mo shrugged again.

"...Most brewing materials in the Nether would honestly fit the description. They all thrive with the heat, so whether it be monster remains or plant life, your guess is as good as mine."

Herobrine gave the other a disappointed glare.

"...Not too helpful. But…what you gave us is more than what we had, so I'm assuming that it'll be alright."

Briefly turning away from the others to look over the forest, Herobrine went into silence, thinking to himself before returning his gaze back to his older brother.

"...Is this all that you've come to us with? Are you going to be leaving us soon?"

Mo thought to himself for a long moment, soon shaking his head afterward.

"...That's…actually, no. That's not all I've come to tell you."

"...Then what else are you here for? Are there more problems we have to think about?"

Suddenly, Mo seemed to grow immensely nervous, his gaze wandering away from the two and immediately settling upon the ground in front of him. It took him about a minute or so to gather his words, though it was quite evident that he already appeared to be regretful for them despite them having yet to leave his mouth.

"I came here to offer my help, sure, but...you are aware of the fact that Maxwell intends to kill you, yes? I've mentioned it before, but you were aware of that, correct?"

Herobrine let out a frustrated sigh.

"I've known that for a while, but his little busboy did give me your first warning."

Mo gave the other a small nod, letting out a sigh of relief.

"...Thank goodness. I didn't know if Caraway would even consider doing me a solid, but...at least he cared." The divine paused, his expression briefly becoming one of amusement. "...You know, Caraway is family, whether you like it or not."

"I don't like it."

Mo gave him a quick shrug, his expression soon falling once again.

"...Maxwell wants you and Steve dead. The world might end soon with the perfect storm of incompetency that he's directly contributing to…he's broken his promise, and is directly going against his duties as king. I cannot, in good conscience, leave you two fully in the dark like this, especially when you're both risking your lives and may very well end up perishing without knowing the truth. The full truth."

Mo paused, taking a breath before moving to slightly turn away from the two, his gaze still refusing to focus on them. In gathering his confidence, he held his palms out upward in front of him, staring at his gloved hands intently before closing his fists, coming to a silent decision.

"I...I want you two to be nice to each other. I want you two to bond."

"...Why?" Herobrine asked, somewhat confused. "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but we'll only be cutting ties when this is all over, why do something so...pointless?"

Mo gave him a small glare.

"He's doing all of this for you, and you won't even bother being nicer to him? Hero, he's…"

The older divine paused, his words trailing off as his glare soon faded away into a look of disappointment.

"...You know what? I'm...I'm done with this."

"With what?..." Herobrine asked quietly.

"...With keeping this all up. With treading the line."

Though Mo was met with a look of confusion from his younger sibling and a look of deep intrigue from Steve, he continued his words with a deep sigh.

"...I regret my involvement in all of this. Of playing my part as a noble son with the future of the Aether in my hands. Of not taking responsibility when I fully knew what I was meant to do, and how much relied on my choices and what I decided to do with the status and power I had been gifted from birth." He took a shaky breath. "...I was meant to rebuild the Aether, and…because of my inaction, my hesitance, and my fears, I...I let all of this happen."

Mo glanced back to Herobrine, looking him directly in the eyes.

"...I...I let all of this happen. Everything that happened to us. Everything that happened to you. I'm just as much of a cruel bastard as that...man is, and I had the gall to act like I was completely powerless in the matter. I could've stood up to him more. I could've fought back harder."

Herobrine, a bit concerned and confused about his brother's words and sudden change of topic, decided to speak up.

"...You did stand up to him…Y-you fought back as hard as you could." He said a bit weakly, not sure with where the conversation was heading.

Mo's gaze fell, his eyes somewhat welling up with hard-fought, angry tears.

"...I didn't fight hard enough."

He looked back up to the two.

"If the fate of the world now lies in your hands, despite how harshly I've seen and heard of it treating you both, then surely, surely…I haven't fought hard enough. For you. For both of you. I'm a disgrace of a prince, and I've had years to perfect my craft."

"You're not a disgrace!" Herobrine exclaimed, stepping forward a bit as Mo became more upset. "You're more of a ruler than Maxwell is, and you know that. Don't lie to yourself like that."

"It's the truth, what makes you think otherwise?!" Mo snapped back.

Herobrine flinched at his sudden intensity, subconsciously taking a step back as regret soon after flashed across Mo's face.

"...I didn't mean to yell at you, I'm sorry, Hero." Mo apologized softly.

As Herobrine's shoulders relaxed a bit, Steve glanced over to him, somewhat surprised that both Mo and Herobrine had even decided on letting him stay for this intense, emotional exchange between them.

Mo had just called the other "Hero." The nickname he accidentally used in a moment of distress was something that Herobrine's brother seemingly called him regularly. How much had it affected him to hear that name again?

"...My lies are unforgivable. I wouldn't be shocked if you came to resent me for them." Mo said quietly.

"...The only reason why I'd ever come to resent you is if you come closer and tell me that you didn't actually care whenever I got reprimanded by Maxwell."

Mo, while looking Herobrine straight in the eyes, reached into his cape and pulled out a somewhat large war hammer. Its handle was ornately decorated, and its head seemed to glow with magic, causing the surrounding area to feel its immense energy. In any case, this weapon was surely blessed, and it was most certainly well-taken care of. He held it in front of him horizontally, seemingly offering it to the demigod in front of him.

"If those words ever come out of my mouth, in any universe whatsoever, I want you to bludgeon me to death. Smash my head in without remorse." Mo said, his expression completely serious.

Herobrine pushed the weapon back toward the other, rolling his eyes somewhat.

"Don't be dramatic, I know that you actually cared. Everything you did to comfort me after the fact proves it."

Mo hid the weapon once again, leaving Steve entirely confused about where he could've put it on his body.

"...In any case...what is the lie that you're struggling to confess?" Herobrine asked quietly, looking up at Mo with curious, cautious eyes.

"...I'm breaking the terms of my…our…agreement. I hate to call it that, but…"

"...Agreement? With…with who?"

"...Maxwell. Well, not just him, actually."

After Herobrine let out a confused "Hm?", Mo let out a shaky laugh.

"Since he's broken his side of things, I'll be breaking mine. For starters, let's just say that…well, the Aether's been organizing things in my favor. I've known for quite a while now, but…I've been improperly classified."

Letting a moment of silence pass, Mo turned to Steve before he continued speaking.

"...I know that you, specifically, know nothing about the Aether." Mo said directly to the miner. "...You may see it as a far-off paradise, but I assure you, we've had our own fair share of bright ages and dark ages, similarly to the Overworld. Right now, we're firmly planted within a dark age. It's a bit better than the previous one before it, but…still pretty dark, nonetheless."

"Before our age, the Aether was just a hair's length away from becoming just like the End, Steven." Herobrine cut in. "In the Aether's time of need, the higher gods were left with no other option than to search for a guiding light away from those times."

"That guiding light ended up being our father, Maxwell." Mo continued. "He led the Aether away from that dark age, but the recovery period slowly went into another age of persisting decay once Maxwell began to ignore his duties in favor of abusing the new wealth and power he was given. That's where I came in."

Mo glanced up to the night sky, looking at the stars up above with somewhat of a nostalgic expression.

"...For starters, and excuse me if that phrase comes out of my mouth too often, but…well, Maxwell…isn't my biological father, to be frank with you. I was formed by the higher gods themselves as a solution for his failures as king."

Steve's eyes widened slightly at the information.

"...You were meant to deal with him? They do that up in the Aether?" He asked in disbelief.

Mo nodded.

"...He's...not your...?" Herobrine looked at Mo in a deeply confused manner, earning a look of genuine surprise from Steve.

How...how did he not know that?

Hearing their confusion, Mo shrugged.

"...The gods always intended for me to take his place." He said, turning toward Steve. "I only found that out during the first meeting I had with the higher divines. Herobrine wasn't born yet then, but…yeah. All they had to figure out was how to make things look natural enough to avoid an upset."

"...Why try to avoid things if they knew how badly that man was messing up in the meantime?" Herobrine spoke up.

Herobrine's continued curious tone drew even more confusion from Steve.

How much did Herobrine not know about his own brother? How was this news to the both of them?

"...They were aware of how bad it looked for a man of their personal selection to have been just another dire problem for them to solve. They didn't really need two in a row, and they also didn't want the other gods to complain about favoritism. To avoid both outcomes, they kind of rigged the initial discovery competition for us new potential candidates for the crown in my favor. Once I was 'selected,' I was placed in his care."

With a slow nod, Herobrine took in the other's words. Curiously, he glanced back up at the other.

"...You said weren't classified properly, though. What did you mean by that?"

"...Were you in the educational courses long enough to have heard of Cieus? Steve, have you heard any folklore about that name?"

Both Herobrine and Steve shook their heads.

"...Cieus was the god who brought the dark age before this one. He was a higher god formed by the others. Long story short, he went mad with power, and the gods created the act of Blessing in order to deal with him properly. What I'm trying to say is that…well, after that attempt of making a higher god, the others were hesitant to try again, but because of Maxwell's neglect of the Aether, they had no choice. I was their next attempt."

Herobrine looked at his brother with a bit of disbelief in his gaze.

"...H-higher god? You...you're one of them?"

Mo nodded solemnly.

"...Meaning that I surely could've done something more about our situation. I was learning how to use my abilities like everyone else, but…still, I could've worked at it harder."

A few moments of tense silence passed as Herobrine processed the information and Mo allowed him to do so. Before long, Mo began to speak again, starting with a small laugh.

"...I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that. That was my agreement with the higher gods."

Once Herobrine finally managed to get his thoughts into order, he looked up at Mo with a slightly suspicious gaze.

"...Is that really what you wanted to tell us, though? Did you wish to speak with us both solely to inform us that a higher god is on our side?"

Mo quickly shook his head.

"No! No…I, that was only part of it. My agreement with the higher gods is one thing, but…my agreement with Maxwell is another."

Herobrine briefly cast a confused look to Steve, almost as if he was silently asking him if Mo had said anything earlier. Unable to answer the silent question, Steve simply shrugged in response, giving him an equally-as-confused expression.

A sigh from Mo dragged them away from their wordless conversation.

"I…how do I say this…" Mo trailed off, thinking to himself quietly as he collected his thoughts together.

After some brief silence, he let out a deep breath, looking back at the two before him.

"My…my relationship with Maxwell, if you can even call it that…well, it was rocky, at the best of times." Mo let out a little laugh, waiting to see if the others would respond. Finding himself being met with more confused silence, he decided to continue, though somewhat less enthusiastically.

"...Due to my powers, I was placed under his care and guidance for the sole reason that one day, I might rule. I grew to be as arrogant as he was, and we clashed rather often, this grown man and me, a small child. Eventually, though, we came to a stalemate over a, retrospectively, small issue."

"…That being?" Herobrine asked cautiously.

Mo looked off to the side in what appeared to be shame.

"…We were both curious about how humans…well, how they thrived. Maxwell was skeptical, believing that no exceptional good could come from mortal hands, and thus, thought that humans were naturally inferior. They could not be perfect, like us, supposedly. I fought back with the notion that humans learned to adapt to what they face, and due to their innate ability to change, humans were truly creatures worthy of our devotion. In fact, I argued that humans were great, if not greater, compared to us divine beings."

Looking between the two, Mo paused, leaving them in silence before taking a deep breath.

"…To that, he proposed a challenge. I, being an arrogant fool with the belief that I had nothing to lose, accepted it."

"…What was it? The challenge?" Steve asked quietly.

Mo stood silently for a moment, messing around with the edge of his right glove as he lost himself in thought. Before long, he broke that silence in a somewhat hushed manner.

"...If I tell you, do...do you promise to not...well, hate me?"

Somewhat bewildered by the question, almost offended that the divine had even asked it in the first place, Herobrine gave the other a slight nod.

"Is...is the challenge that egregious?"

Mo took a moment to process his question before nodding slowly in response.

"…I remember it so clearly, his tone, his words…everything. The process itself, too." Mo took a deep breath, going back over his memories again with visible struggle. "...I remember him proposing that we test the true adaptability of mankind. To see how exceptional a human could be given the circumstances of their surroundings. To see if they could achieve perfection. Who would excel, a human in standard conditions with human influences, or…one with exceptional surroundings, so to speak?"

"...Brother, what are you getting at?" Herobrine asked in a frustrated manner.

Mo looked weakly at Herobrine, causing his expression to fall into concern.

"...He asked me to use my powers. At that point in time, I was only used to creating inanimate objects. Rocks and jewels and plants and such, you know? I had no experience in the matter, but…I did it, anyway. I used my powers to put the agreement into motion."

The older divine averted his gaze.

"To test our theories, Maxwell asked me to create something. He…he asked me to make…a-a human."

Looking at the other's sickened expression, Herobrine let out a small laugh, though, it was clear that it was one of disbelief.

"A human? You're getting worked up over-"

"-N-no. You don't understand. He…h-he wanted me to create a human. Each. He wanted me to create two, identical humans. Down to the last blood cell, down to the last strand of hair. Not a single physical trait was to be different. The reasoning behind his order being…that…well…"

Pure, unfiltered shame overtook the other's expression.

"…O-one was to be raised in the Aether, as the human with exceptional surroundings. They would live among gods, raised by gods, giving every opportunity to succeed without hindrance. The other…would live within the Overworld, as a control of some sort. One to compare their sibling with, by default. Neither of the two was to be informed of the other's existence during childhood. This is because…well, during the formative years, one could potentially influence the other, and such, ruining the experiment. They were to be separated and raised in different worlds."

Mo looked Herobrine directly in the eyes.

"I…The one condition that Maxwell imposed on me personally was that I, in order to help oversee the Aethren sibling's development...I was to masquerade as a relative of theirs. Anything but his selected role as their father and my actual role as creator. So…I…I-I chose brother."

Hands folded in front of himself, Mo forced his gaze to remain connected.

"You were that Aethren sibling, Hero."

Widened, silver eyes stared at the other in absolute shock, the gears in his mind turning as he tried to process what Mo had just admitted to him. Herobrine struggled to get his mind together, to ask any question, to break the uneasy silence that had formed as emotions began to stir somewhat aggressively within him.

Looking to see that Herobrine was not exactly appearing to be handling the information well, Steve found himself similarly debating silently on what he could possibly say in response.

This wasn't exactly his knowledge to have, was it? He felt as if he was intruding on a personal moment that wasn't meant for his eyes, nor his ears, so would saying anything be rude? Would remaining silent be rude? Why was he even there at this point?

"...I apologize if this is too much for you to handle, but...I wanted you to know." Mo said, finally getting the chance to tear his focus away from the troubled divine in front of him.

Quietly, Steve began to back away, both in fear for however Herobrine would react and in slight embarrassment for intruding on this rather private moment. To his dismay, Mo noticed him moving from out of the corner of his eye, soon after releasing an abrupt sigh that was accompanied by a weak smile.

"...Believe it or not, this does involve you, Steve."

Confused, Steve halted his awkward attempt at an escape, slowly beginning to move back where he had been standing.

"...H-how?" Steve asked nervously.

Mo cast his gaze downward.

"...I didn't want you to possibly pass on without being aware of this. No one in the Aether, save for me, Maxwell, Minos, and our historian Claymore was aware of the truth."

"...That you created him?" Steve asked nervously.

The miner flinched as a sharp breath escaped Herobrine's mouth, leading him to look up to find that tears had finally gathered at the corners of the demigod's eyes.

Herobrine looked Mo directly in the eyes with a somewhat illuminated, distressed gaze.

"You…you a-aren't…?"

Mo nodded sadly.

"...I created you, yes. We are siblings in the Aethren sense, but...I-I mean, we're still family, but…y-you know."

"If…I…where's the other one, then? The Overworldian sibling?" Herobrine asked, a bit of desperation rising within his tone.

"I was getting to that, actually…" Mo said with an unsure voice. "Though…I originally wanted to keep active tabs on them, I...Maxwell forbade it. However, fate seemed to work quite well against his wishes. Your sibling shares the breath I used to make you as well, it was only natural that you'd stumble upon them eventually in this world."

Herobrine paused, thinking to himself momentarily before looking back at the other with widened eyes.

"...You're joking."

"...I don't want to lie to you anymore. I'm being entirely sincere."

"...Don't…don't you dare say-"

"-He's standing right beside you."

Glancing over to Steve, Mo gave him a weak smile.

"...See? I told you that this still involves you quite a bit."

What.

...

What.

...

WHAT.

Now it was time for Steve to find himself utterly dumbfounded by the information that he'd been given. It'd taken him a solid minute to realize what Mo had said, but once he did, his brain completely broke.

He had a sibling. He had a brother. Herobrine was his brother.

He'd been alive for nineteen full years on this planet, and until now, he didn't know where he'd come from. He never knew about anything before his time in Crystalia, but now, he was just told that he had a blood sibling. The person who was standing next to him was actually related to him.

Finding that neither Steve nor Herobrine were ready to break the abrupt silence that had formed in between them, Mo decided to break it himself.

"...Steve. Herobrine. You two are the ones who were created for the Aether's experiment. You two are the siblings I formed with my own two hands." Mo reinforced, putting on a kind, but sad smile.

More stunned silence followed his words, leaving Mo feeling somewhat distressed by the lack of reactions he was currently receiving.

Steve didn't know what to say. Herobrine didn't know what to say. Vibrant purple-pinkish eyes met with silver, and for a long while, the two stared at each other in pure disbelief.

That disbelief melted away into relaxed comprehension for Steve. The more he looked at the other's face the more he came to terms with what he'd been told.

In all honesty, he was beginning to feel more comfortable with the idea than what he had briefly expected. It explained their shared features, at least, and besides, maybe now that Herobrine knew that they were related, he'd be more willing to actually be nice to him more often. This is what Mo intended to happen by telling them, right?

The disbelief in Herobrine's eyes turned into blankness, his gaze soon being directed solely upon Mo.

"...You created us." He spoke, his tone sending a brief chill down both Steve and Mo's spines.

There was no emotion there. Herobrine's voice was unnaturally calm.

Mo slowly nodded, finding himself growing somewhat nervous the longer that Herobrine stared at him.

"...I did."

"...We were an experiment." Herobrine spoke, his voice a bit louder in volume, as well as a bit more unstable.

Suddenly, Mo had a clear idea of how the other was taking things.

"B-brother, I-" He began to stammer out.

A small, unsettling laugh escaped Herobrine's lips, silencing Mo almost immediately.

"Brother? Me?…Brother?… Do…do you expect me to call you brother?…"

Seething anger slowly began to radiate off of Herobrine; his stance appeared to be rather threatening before it grew shaky as he slowly approached the other in disbelief and growing rage.

"Am I really supposed to address you as my brother when you just revealed to me such a substantial, yet oh-so-trivial thing?"

Fire sparked off his fingertips as he pointed up at his so-called "brother."

"Do I call you brother when you created me and Steven for the sole purpose of entertaining you and your sick, little experiment?"

Mo did not respond. He remained stationary, looking at the other with immense guilt in his expression, and yet, deep hurt in his eyes.

"When you thought that I was dead, why didn't you go looking for him?!" Herobrine pointed back toward Steve. "Why didn't you go looking for me?!"

"W-we…I did!" Mo finally blurted out. "W-when I went looking, you…you weren't there, a-and-"

"-I was. I landed next to the city that was there. How didn't you find me then?"

"...We'd just left the Aether, and...please understand, it wasn't an easy task, brother, I-"

"-Why are you calling me 'brother?' Do I call you brother when you simply allowed those monsters to experiment on me? To defile me? To rip me, and to tear me apart?"

"Hero…I-"

"-No! Why should I treat you as if we're on equal grounds?! I am simply your creation after all. One half of the little side-project of a higher god…In fact, I'm quite enough due for some direct teenage rebellion…aren't I ?"

Hero violently grabbed the collar of Mo's shirt, staring directly into his eyes with newly-formed tears in his own.

"Really?! Brother?! When you separated me and my real sibling from birth just to see if one of us would turn out more fucked-up than the other?!"

The violent shouting became shakier as Hero began to break down completely in tears.

"Brother, when I can simply grovel at your feet on the ground you walk on?! Call you brother, when you left me alone?! When you decided I wasn't worth protecting?! When you abandoned me?!"

Placing a hand upon Herobrine's unsteady ones, Mo tried to calm the other down.

"Herobrine, you need to-"

"-No! Shut up! Just shut the fuck up! I don't want to hear it! How about you listen to me?!"

As Herobrine yelled at the other, Mo became silent, dropping his hand down to his side.

Struggling to gather his words, Herobrine now appeared to be a bit flushed with anger.

"At any point in time, you could've taken me. You could've taken me away from Maxwell's abuse and raised me like you had already been doing." Herobrine took a shaky breath that failed to hold back his sobs. "…But you didn't! Y-you kept me there, just to see how it would change me, you sick fuck!"

"...That's not what I wanted! I...I know I messed up. I've...he made your life a living nightmare, and it's all my fault, but I never wanted you to get hurt!" Mo rebutted firmly.

"...If you didn't want me to get hurt, then...t-then why didn't you ever punish Maxwell, huh?! You have more power than him, don't you?!" Herobrine shook the other slightly.

"...Until I physically have the crown on my head, I can't give Maxwell what he deserves in full. I was working my hardest to make that day come faster, so I could give you the life you deserved! Every moment I wasn't physically with you, I was thinking of you. When Maxwell wasn't tormenting you, he was tormenting me!"

"I know!"

Herobrine yelled at the god before him, his breath heavy as he bared his emotions out. Slowly, his gaze shifted over to the ground, tears freely falling where he looked.

"I…I know you were as much a victim as I was in that place."

Slowly, Herobrine relaxed his grip upon the other's shirt before letting go of him entirely, backing away. With a betrayed look in his eyes, Herobrine turned his attention back upon the divine in front of him.

"...Why now?...Why'd you decide to tell me this now of all times?..."

Mo looked at him with pained eyes.

"...If you were to die tomorrow, whether it be from the collapse of the universe or the hands of a god, I didn't want you to die without knowing what I've done to you. What I took from you both."

Gently, Mo gestured for Steve to come closer. Once the miner did so, he placed a hand on his shoulder, putting the other one upon Herobrine's.

"...I robbed you both of a childhood together. If this whole mess of a situation hadn't happened, I would've mostly robbed you both of a shared young adulthood until I finally managed to become king. It was selfish of me to put my own interests before yours, and that's an error that I could never hope to correct. I don't expect you to ever forgive me, but I do hope that you choose to use this knowledge to hopefully form a bond with each other in the brief time you have between now and whenever you finally confront the terrifying beast known as the Ender dragon."

Steve slowly nodded his head, glancing over to Herobrine to see how he was doing.

Herobrine was facing away from both of them. He couldn't see the other's expression at all.

Noticing how both of the two in front of him were not exactly all too ecstatic with him or his words, Mo gave the two a solemn smile and a quick pat against the shoulder.

"...I…I'll leave you two to process things…I'm sure that you don't need me to be around, right now. I'll...I'll still be in the area if you eventually need me, though." Mo said quietly.

Slowly removing his hands from Herobrine and Steve's shoulders, the older divine backed away from them before teleporting away, leaving the two alone in the quiet forest to deal with the information that they'd been given on their own.

With a cautious glance, Steve looked back at Herobrine again, struggling with finding the right words in order to begin talking to the other.

What could he possibly say? Finding out that he had a sibling was shocking, that was certain, but surely, it wasn't as world-changing and absolutely devastating to find out that the life that you'd been living was essentially just one big lie, was it?

Opening his mouth to say something, he continued to find no words to speak, unable to fully think about their situation without risking his words devolving into pure, confused babbling. Steve instead cast his gaze downward, slowly beginning to think of how to address Herobrine now that they had new shared knowledge of one another. Before he could even start with the process, he suddenly found himself being shoved to the ground, sending him into a confused daze as he tried to process what was now happening. The sound of a blade being unsheathed came to his ears, and all of a sudden, his blood soon ran cold.

All he knew was that he wished that Mo didn't leave them alone to reconcile with the information that they had just been given. He'd forgotten in his confusion that his apparent blood sibling was prone to violence.

Herobrine now held a sword to his throat, staring at him wordlessly with troubled eyes, his mouth held shut as it seemed like any sound that possibly went past his lips would send him into a frenzy. Steve, with a shaky gaze, looked up at the other, fear evident upon his features.

Why was Herobrine suddenly attacking him? Why was he threatening him? What had he done to warrant this?

Staring into the other's silver eyes, Steve was only able to distinguish one hidden thought from the jumbled mess of emotions that he found there.

Confliction.

"...H-Herobrine." He spoke up, attempting to scoot himself away from the other's blade.

Herobrine only followed him.

Suddenly, Steve found himself unable to restrain his own troubling emotions.

"Why are you trying to hurt me?!" He practically yelled in confusion.

Herobrine flinched at his words, though, his expression didn't falter, and his grip upon his sword only tightened.

Steve's expression grew somewhat frustrated.

"A-are you mad at me? Why are you mad at me?!" Steve paused, trying to consider the possible reasons for Herobrine's behavior before looking back up at the other with somewhat hurt eyes. "I...I-I didn't ask to…I wasn't in charge of deciding who I was related to, how was I supposed to do anything about it? How was I supposed to know?!"

Herobrine jutted the sword closer to his throat, causing Steve to cower more to the ground beneath him. Though it was clear that the demigod certainly had something to say, he had yet to voice his thoughts out.

Tears formed in the corners of Steve's eyes as pure fear began to take over his body.

"A….a-are you going to kill me? Just like…t-that? Because you're mad that out of all people, you had to be related to a h-human?!"

Herobrine finally opened his mouth to break his angered silence.

"...You dumbass. If I'm not human, and…if what Mojang said was correct, and we were meant to be a hundred percent identical, then neither. Are. You." He gritted his teeth as he punctuated his statement with another jab toward Steve's throat.

Herobrine's words took a moment to sink in, but once they did, his mind went completely numb.

…He…he wasn't human? He wasn't human?

Was that why he'd survived? Why he had the ability to heal so quickly? Why Mo could find him? Why Herobrine had found him in the first place?

After realizing that his gaze had fallen to the ground blankly, Steve looked back up at the demigod, drawing a sigh from his lips.

"...Forget it."

Herobrine slowly pulled away from him, sheathing the sword before turning away from the other with a small huff.

"...Get out of my sight." The other said sternly, drawing a brief flinch from Steve.

"...W-what?" Steve asked quietly.

"Leave. Now. I don't want to look at you." Herobrine said a bit more angrily.

Steve glared at him.

"You just want to push this all aside, don't you? Can't we just talk-"

"-Leave!"

Looking at the other with a somewhat hurt glare, Steve, not wanting to see just how far the other would go in his current state of anger, got up as fast as he could, giving the other one last look of worry before leaving him where he was, alone with his own overwhelming emotions.

Once Steve was far enough on his own within the forest, he slowly came to a firm stop, finally getting the time to go through his thoughts and truly take a moment to really absorb everything that had just happened to him.

Two conflicting ideas were floating around his head, though, they both brought him an equal amount of stress and confusion.

Herobrine was his sibling. The End was failing much quicker than what they were anticipating.

His brother was obviously hurt, and he nearly slashed his throat in a fit of anger.

With a small groan, Steve continued walking forward, hoping that his feet would take him back to his village soon enough. He didn't want to pay attention to his currently shaky hands and tense body. He had to find a distraction of some kind; if Herobrine didn't want to deal with the situation right now, then he didn't have to, either.


Aaaannnnnnd here we are! Thinking about the flow of information for this chapter was kind of difficult, but…we got there eventually, lmao. I wanted things to be tense and all, but my brain was not on my side this week haha. That, plus school stuff got in the way of writing, so :P Y'all, I did not originally intend for this chapter to be this beefy, but here you go XD

We've finally made it! The one chapter I've been dying to write ever since I started this fic (and before I even started lol)! A lot of revisions happened with this chapter, and a lot of stuff got adjusted, including who Mo even was, the contents of the reveal itself, and what happened afterward! Originally, I was going to have Herobrine accept the information outright, but uh…seeing how the reveal scene was written before a good portion of the rest of the fic, I had to change things accordingly. I was initially planning on having Herobrine and Steve's friendship more developed by this point, but now that's gonna be shifted entirely lmao. Also, fun fact (before I get to those), this chapter was taking a bit longer than what I originally planned due to there originally being another little part here where Steve airs out his frustrations after learning about his lost sibling. That will probably be a part of the next chapter, just to save y'all the waiting time this week XD

Fun Facts! :D

1.) So…Herobrine and Steve are siblings! While they were kept apart for the entirety of their childhood, there was a brief window of time where they could've actually met, lol. Herobrine came to Crystalia just a couple of weeks away from his ninth birthday, and Steve left Crystalia when he was nine. If Andvari had been more careless with where Herobrine was allowed to go, there's a good chance that they might've accidentally found each other sooner.

2.) Mo's first time using his signature ability was with making these two, lol. He fully intended to make two humans, but due to his inexperience, we all know how that went.

3.) In all actuality, Herobrine technically would be considered a lower god.

4,) Mo didn't really need the higher gods' help with succeeding in becoming the future candidate for king, but they still helped him when he actually needed a little boost, lol.

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