Chapter 45: Where Balance Shifts


Mo didn't respond to the first silent call. He didn't come forward in response to the next few, either.

Tense silence had formed as Herobrine tried to contact their distant sibling, to no current avail. As Steve rode the waves of dread that came with every call, getting more intense as Herobrine became more angered by the lack of response, a quiet groan left his lips as all he could do was hope that it would end soon enough.

With frustration evident in his gaze, Herobrine turned to face Steve abruptly, stopping his tired attempts as the other silently rejoiced in response.

"If I had to take an educated guess, I'd say that he's sitting in the mead hall. Over in your village."

"...What?" Steve asked quietly.

Pointing toward the front door of the house, Herobrine looked at Steve with a serious expression.

"I know where he is. I can still feel his presence, and he's not doing a good job of hiding it. I called him more than twice, and he's not coming. Go out there, and drag him over. You'll draw less attention, and I have a sneaking suspicion that he'll have a harder time refusing you asking him to join us, face-to-face."

Finding the other's tone a bit threatening in nature, Steve, regardless, shrugged as he began to make his way to the front of the house.

"I'll be back in a few, I guess. One older brother, coming up."

Herobrine shooed him off.

"Hurry. I want to know why he's refusing to come over here."

Steve rolled his eyes slightly at the other's impatient tone.

"Me too, but it takes a while to get over there. I'll go as quickly as I can, Brine."

Before he too could become the target of Herobrine's frustration, Steve left the house.


He originally wanted to speed walk through the village, but his tired legs said otherwise.

Moving at a moderate pace, Steve made his way through the village, only barely paying any attention to the surrounding villagers as he moved along. Passing by Almun's house, Steve found the blacksmith working at his station diligently, working on what appeared to be the blade of an axe. Briefly pausing to grab another tool to use, Almun froze as his gaze fell upon Steve as he stared at him, causing him to stop working almost immediately.

Without prompting, Steve walked over to Almun a bit eagerly.

"I'm gonna be heading out again soon, Al." Steve said as he reached the other's porch, earning an interested hum from Almun's lips.

"...You're gonna go back into the Nether soon, aren't you?" Almun asked softly.

Steve slowly nodded, giving the other a gentle smile.

"I just need to find me and Brine's older brother first. We think he's at the meadery."

"...He's around?"

Steve nodded again. Almun raised a slight, intrigued brow at him.

"...May I ask why you need to find him?"

Steve shrugged.

"...We need him to help us, that's all."

"That's nice...You're still gonna be careful when you get to the Nether though, right?" Almun asked him, standing up from his spot at his station and walking over to Steve.

The miner nodded firmly.

"As careful as I can be, y'know? I think my back's gonna be watched pretty closely at least, but I'll make sure not to get myself into stupid situations. For your sake."

"Do it for your sake as well. I don't think being some sort of non-human entity prevents you from getting hurt, does it?"

As Steve opened his mouth to answer, his gaze fell down to his bandaged arm, causing him to pause as his expression fell.

"...No, it doesn't." He said softly, rubbing his arm a bit as Almun followed his gaze.

A look of concern appeared on the other's face almost immediately.

"What the…when did you get that?"

Steve looked back up at the other, shrugging.

"...Had a duel with Pickett. He got me good. I still won, though." He said matter-of-factly.

Almun narrowed his gaze as he continued to stare at the injury.

"...I'd understand a simple cut, but the fact that you needed a whole bandage like that makes me feel a bit upset at him, man."

Steve raised his hands up in defense, chuckling nervously.

"You don't need to be mad at him! He apologized, and plus, me dueling him convinced him to drop his championship. I don't mind that I got hurt. At least he'll be safe in the long run, right?"

Though he was lying a bit with the whole "not minding" part of his admission, Steve spoke eagerly to Almun, somewhat feeling a bit of relief as the other's gaze softened slightly.

"...Doesn't make me feel any better about you getting hit. You're heading into a place that takes advantage of every little weakness you have in order to utterly destroy you. You better make sure that cut is well-healed before you get in there, alright?"

Steve looked curiously at the blacksmith.

"...Why?"

Almun looked at him with a serious expression.

"...The Nether is dangerous, of course. I've heard stories about the plant life there being just as dangerous as the landscape, even being more dangerous than the lifeforms native to there. Should anything get into your system, you might not have a pleasant time in the Nether." Almun looked away briefly. "...Well, you weren't going to regardless, but…you get it."

Taking in the other's information to heart, Steve gave the other an appreciative smile.

"...Thanks for the warning, Al. I heal pretty fast, so I think that we'll be good on that front."

As Steve finished speaking, Al walked up closer to him, bringing him into yet another public hug. He wrapped his arms around him gently, paying mind to his hurt arm as he did so.

"You take care of yourself, alright? I wanna see you walking back to the village with as little damage as possible. I can accept a few scrapes and stuff, but if you're missing a limb when you come back, I'll jump right into the Nether or the End and get proper revenge, you hear?"

Relaxing in the other's hold, Steve let out a small laugh.

"Don't make me worried about you next! We can't take turns, Al."

Pulling away from Steve, Almun placed his hands on his shoulders and nodded over to the direction of the meadery.

"Go and take care of business. Otherwise, I might just decide to keep you here for longer than you need to be."

With a small nod, Steve began to walk away.

"Will do! See you around, Al!" The miner waved to the other, who simply waved back in response with a kind smile on his face.

As Steve made his way to the meadery, a bit of curiosity began to creep up on him the more he thought about the possibility of Mo actually being there.

Why the meadery, specifically? Why would the other risk being found out by a human? Sure, he had a human disguise, but wouldn't he be bothered by all the drunk people coming up to ask him about whether or not he was a traveler or new resident? Did he just want a drink or something?

Descending down the steps that led to the meadery, Steve looked up toward the front door with intrigue. As he got to the bottom step, he found himself stopping his approach completely, closing his eyes as he allowed silence to surround him.

…If he was a god, why couldn't he feel the presence of other divine beings? Was that a skill that had to be taught to him? Was it not innate?

Had he lived as a human for so long, that he simply wasn't capable of learning any divine skills? Was he merely stuck in development, or was he unable to learn, period?

Letting out a small sigh of defeat as he found himself unable to feel anything, Steve continued walking up to the front door of the meadery, slowly pushing it open once he got there.

The building was a bit busier than what he had been expecting, especially since it was still day outside, but he at least was able to walk in without being crashed into or noticed. His face scrunched up a bit in response to the smell of drinks and sweat, but he pressed on regardless.

Surprisingly enough, Mo was exactly where Herobrine said his presence was located, sitting quietly at the bar at the far end of the room. The other had his hair pulled back once again, dressed in the same outfit that he'd originally met him in, presumably taking on his "Joules" persona so that he could properly blend in. Bracing himself as he traveled further within the atmosphere of growing drunken stupidity, Steve quickly made his way to Mo without bumping into anyone else there.

The divine being was sipping a glass of what seemed to be mead, though Steve knew well enough that it wasn't, given that the place didn't even have the ingredients needed to make some. As the miner approached his location, Mo glanced over to him, not turning his head as he did so. Steve froze once the other's eyes landed on him, nervousness seeping into his system.

Slowly, Mo lowered his drink.

"...If you're really wondering why I didn't come to you...his pressure seemed too forced. It seemed like he was reluctant to see me." Mo started quietly, a somewhat tired look in his eyes.

Curiously, Steve examined his expression, worry forming on his features as he locked gazes with solid black irises once again.

"...You don't look too good." Steve said quietly, earning a shaky laugh from Mo as he hung his head.

"...It's just the mead. Promise." Mo swished around his drink, staring at it lazily as he did so. "...The slowness potion, I mean."

"...Are you sure?"

The sounds of other villagers having a grand time filled the space between them, failing to break the tense atmosphere that had formed.

Mo stopped moving his glass, allowing for the liquid to settle.

"...Steve." He began in a somewhat stronger manner. "...In your nineteen years of existence here in the Overworld, how kind was it towards you?"

Surprised at the other's question, Steve looked at him with intrigue.

"...Uh…Why are you asking? Is this for that…bet you made w-"

"-I could care less about the terms of that stupid bet. What I want to know is whether or not I let you both live in hellish conditions. The idea has started to plague me once again." The older divine said, his voice a bit more forced out than before.

Steve subconsciously went to roll his wrist around in his hand a bit, thinking carefully to himself before answering.

"...I was adopted by a nice family. I lived in a nice city, then I moved to a nice...enough village. My childhood was nice." Steve gave the other a gentle smile. "...You don't have to worry about me, really."

He waited for the divine to respond, only to be met with silence until a sigh of deep relief left Mo's lips as his head fell to rest upon the bar in front of him.

"...Thank the higher divines." Mo briefly lifted his head back up again, turning to look at Steve. "...Obviously not me, though."

An abrupt laugh came from Steve in response to the other's comment, leading to Mo's expression turning into one of surprise before a smile slowly formed on his face.

"...I'm glad that you at least managed to live peacefully. Until now, of course."

Turning away from the other once again, Mo went to stare intently at his drink.

"...So. What do you two need? I'm assuming that our brother wasn't simply calling me on his own just for the sake of it, was he?"

Steve shook his head.

"We need you and your powers at the moment."

Mo looked at him curiously, glancing around a bit cautiously before doing so.

"...For what?" He said in a hushed manner.

Remembering that they were, in fact, in public, Steve leaned a bit closer to the other, lowering his voice into a whisper.

"Well, Joules, we kinda wanna...um, get going. Away from here. We know where we wanna go next."

"And that place is…?" 'Joules' raised a brow at him.

"Somewhere that you don't want a bunch of drunk idiots eavesdropping the details on. Come with me, and we'll both explain it to you. Me and you-know-who."

As Steve motioned for the other to follow him, Mo stood up, but before he could leave entirely, he grabbed his glass, finished the drink, and left a couple of emeralds upon the bar counter along with his empty glass. With a grin, he looked at Steve.

"...Can't dine and dash, y'know?"

Steve returned the smile with a bit of a shrug.

"...'Course not."

The two left the meadery briskly, paying some mind to the people around them as they tried to leave without bumping into anybody. As they went through the village, Steve found Mo slowly falling behind him, walking slower than he had been just mere moments ago. Once they got past the village walls, however, the divine fell a few feet behind him, causing him to slow down as he tried to not lose the other.

One solid look at the other's face revealed quite a bit of conflict, and Steve had a good idea of what could've possibly been causing it. Before he could even think about talking with Mo in detail about that cause, they reached the lake that his house was placed in front of.

They both found that Herobrine was waiting for them in front of the house, much to the miner's concern. Briskly, Steve approached the other, leaving Mo behind.

"Brine! Why are you out here?! Someone could see you!" He exclaimed with a panicked tone in his voice.

Herobrine held up a hand to silence him.

"I'd like to see them say anything to me if they do. We have more pressing matters to attend to, Steven."

Walking past Steve rather quickly, Herobrine approached Mo, pointing directly at him once he was close enough to him.

"Why didn't you come forward the first couple of times I tried to reach you? Anion was here not too long ago, sending out a call like that was dangerous!"

Sheepishly, Mo glanced over to the side.

"...You didn't sound too…convinced with yourself. I didn't want to come if you weren't entirely sure that you actually needed me."

"Well, we do. We need your assistance."

Curiously, Mo glanced back up toward the other.

"...I've heard. What do you need me for?"

"We need access to the Nether, and we need your portal-making abilities to do that rather quickly." Herobrine explained.

The other divine stared at him for a couple of moments, confusion forming on his face.

"...Wait, you want me to make portals?" Mo asked, pointing to himself.

Herobrine let out a frustrated sigh.

"No. Not portals, plural. Portal, singular."

Steve stepped forward, joining the two in their conversation.

"We kinda need just one Nether portal. A small one, maybe? So that we don't cause a lot of magic balance damage, or whatever?"

Mo thought to himself, looking away as he stared off into the forest around them.

"...All of them will cause considerable damage at this point, especially newly-made ones. Do you not have any pre-built ones around this area?"

Steve's eyes lit up before an embarrassed expression slowly formed on his face.

"We uh…destroyed it. Actually."

Mo looked at him with interest.

"Where was it located? Do you think that you could kindly lead me there?"

"We're not rebuilding that one." Herobrine butted in, raising his hands. "That one was relatively large. Even if all the portals are causing damage, that one would hurt things even more."

"Well, me using my powers will cause some effect already. If there are still remnants of the portal left wherever you destroyed it, I can just use parts of those instead of creating a whole frame from scratch!" The older divine said with a smile. "I can make it smaller, too. We don't have to replicate its original form, especially since I'm quite certain that some of the pieces will be unusable, anyways."

Before Herobrine could interject, Steve began walking away from the two, gesturing for them to follow him.

"We found it in the mines! It's not too far away from here."

Looking over to Herobrine, Steve gave the other a pleading expression.

"We can't just stand here and argue. C'mon, this is the easiest option we have right now, Brine."

Mo quickly began following the other with a thankful expression, leaving Herobrine behind to stare at both of them with a look of disbelief. Slowly, his expression fell as frustration soon came to replace it.

Begrudgingly, he began to follow as well.


The destroyed portal was exactly where they'd left it in the mines, collapsed upon the surface of the hanging ravine structure that they discovered.

Approaching the debris, Steve was intrigued to find a strange purple liquid dripping from the cracks that were present within some fragments of the obsidian, drawing him closer as he tried to examine it. An amused chuckle came from beside him as he was soon joined by Mo in front of the pile.

Mo crouched down in front of the debris, grabbing a piece of obsidian that was thoroughly covered in the mystery substance before presenting it to Steve.

"This is what unpurified obsidian looks like. Magic takes a physical form and escapes from the rock, making any portal made with it rather unusable." Mo said in somewhat of a hushed voice, flipping the rock around in his hands a bit as Steve stared at it in awe.

The miner crouched down as well to take a closer look, but before he could reach out and touch the broken stone, Herobrine cleared his throat behind them, drawing their attention.

"Would it be rude to ask you to properly warn him of what happens when you come into contact with crying obsidian? Especially when you're not properly trained in dealing with magic?"

Mo's eyes widened slightly as he pulled back the piece of obsidian from Steve's reach, chuckling nervously.

"Of course! Of course. Well…" Mo glanced back at the pile with an embarrassed look in his eyes. "Contact with the stuff, if you're not used to working with it and suppressing the effects, makes you feel a bit…woozy, so to speak. If you get enough of it on you, and you aren't able to wash it off…well, you start teleporting."

"Wildly." Herobrine added. "Last time I checked, you weren't fond of the feeling, were you?"

Guarding his hand to avoid any sort of contact, Steve shook his head.

"I…I don't think that I'm willing to see what that feels like."

Mo tossed the piece of obsidian back into the pile, standing up soon afterward as he began to look over it intently.

"Now, a lot of this is still pretty usable, actually. Given the amount of crying obsidian, however, I don't think we can rely on this portal to stay active for long."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Steve asked, worry forming on his face.

Mo turned toward him with a reassuring smile.

"I can work with the materials of this portal, but the second you pass through it, we're going to have to turn it off for preservation. All you have to do is light it up once again when you need to come back, that's all. Nothing too serious!" He explained carefully, holding up his hands as he finished.

Herobrine let out a small hum in response.

"It might be hard to find it again should we turn it off and stray too far from it. I might not be able to feel its pulse if we have to travel quite a distance. We'll need a way to find it again."

Mo shrugged at him.

"...Make breadcrumbs, I guess. Non-combustible ones, of course, but…something you can see properly from a distance."

The three fell into silence as they tried to think of a possible solution for their new hurdle, with Steve turning away in order to look over the cave as he thought to himself.

What could they possibly use to navigate themselves in the Nether? Could they bring rocks and leave them behind wherever they went? Should they bring actual breadcrumbs in and leave them around?

With a quiet sigh, Steve turned his gaze toward the entrance of the tunnel that led them into the ravine, finding himself staring at the light that was emanating from the mines deeper within.

A solution abruptly came to him.

"Hey, do you think torches will help? They burn bright enough that we could see them even in the dark, and they handle fire pretty well." He suggested, drawing the attention of both Mo and Herobrine almost immediately.

The two thought about his idea for a few seconds, with a small approving hum coming from Mo in particular.

"...I mean, it could work. You could theoretically see them from a distance."

Herobrine narrowed his gaze as he cast it down toward the floor, a small sigh coming from his lips as he did so.

"You both are forgetting the fact that it's impossibly hot down there. There's a good chance that the torches will combust on their own if we leave them."

As Steve's expression fell at Herobrine's point, Mo shrugged at the other's words.

"...Netherrack burns as well. If you leave a trail of torches down upon it, the netherrack could catch fire as well, and you'll have a trail of eternal fire to follow as a backup option, if you need it."

"...That is true." Herobrine muttered, looking up at the pile of debris that still lay in front of them.

Relieved that his idea hadn't been entirely discarded upfront, Steve approached the two once again with eagerness.

"I'll make sure to bring a bunch of them along with us! It won't take too much time to craft them, I promise."

Herobrine shrugged at him.

"...Great, I suppose." Herobrine turned toward Mo. "You might want to get started on the portal, so we can actually get going, here."

A look of realization flashed across Mo's face as the other spoke to him.

"O-oh! Right."

Mo quickly went toward the debris pile, beginning to rummage through it and throw tainted pieces of obsidian off to the side. It didn't take long for the divine to begin his actual creation process, moving to smooth out the pieces of obsidian that he grabbed as if they were nothing more than soft pieces of clay. Slowly but surely, the other began to form the base of the portal frame, reforming cracked pieces of obsidian as needed. Soon enough, a small, solid portal frame was standing before them, sturdy and intimidating like any other, even though it was created using fragments of an older structure. With a proud expression on his face as he finished his handiwork, Mo stepped away from the portal, gesturing over to it as he did so.

"Gentlemen, your portal frame." He announced in an exaggerated manner, earning an expression of awe from Steve and a roll of the eyes from Herobrine.

"It's really that easy for you?" Steve asked excitedly.

Mo nodded.

"My power is to create. You can expect no less."

Herobrine stepped forward, moving to examine the structure a bit more thoroughly.

"You can create what looks like a portal, but is the obsidian truly pure enough to function correctly? Can we actually light it properly?"

Mo looked at him with a bit of a hurt expression at his judgemental tone, though he quickly shook it off and shrugged.

"...It's up to you to see for yourself. Light it."

Forming a small flame at the edge of his fingertips, Herobrine looked at the portal briefly before sending the flame into it, watching carefully as the flame rested upon the edge of the portal as it landed.

Nothing happened for a few solid seconds, leading to a brief sense of disappointment and failure rising up within the three. However, that disappointment washed away as the flame began to spread rapidly, traveling along the edges of the portal frame before the space between them began to distort, forming the magical wall of purple that they were eagerly waiting for.

Stepping back somewhat in surprise, Herobrine glanced back toward Mo with some of that surprise being reflected in his silver gaze.

"...So it does work. Good job."

Mo gave him a small bow.

"Just remember, you must only light it if you need it. I recommend keeping it off if you're going to go grab supplies, first."

With a small nod, Herobrine formed another flame in his hands, hurling it quickly toward the portal as the sound of glass shattering soon came to them, with the wall of magic quickly disappearing from view. Turning back toward Steve, who had flinched in response to the loud noise, Herobrine looked at him with a bit of a serious expression.

"Go and get your supplies ready. We're leaving as soon as possible."

Nodding, Steve turned toward Mo, giving him a deeply appreciative smile.

"Thank you so much for your help!" He said, earning a small laugh from the other in response.

"It's no problem. It's the least I could do, after all. Now, go do what he said and get your stuff in order. The Nether isn't any place to be even remotely unprepared for, you know."

With another nod, Steve began to head toward the exit of the ravine, with Herobrine soon deciding to follow after him without another word.

Before he could depart, however, a hand found its way onto Herobrine's shoulder, stopping him from leaving entirely.

"...Can I speak with you? Please?" Mo asked quietly, looking up to make sure that Steve had actually left before looking back down at the other again.

Herobrine left him in silence for a moment before sighing, turning to face him slowly.

"...About what, exactly?"

Mo looked him in the eyes with a somewhat troubled expression.

"...You know well enough that the Nether can bring great harm to both you and Steven. Your immortal status offers you little protection there, if any."

Herobrine rolled his eyes at the other's words.

"...Really? Because last I recall, it kept me pretty safe when you failed to do so."

Hurt flashed across the older divine's eyes.

"...I know I already told you this, but...I never meant to hurt you. I'm sorry that I did." Mo's voice wavered slightly as he spoke, moving to let go of the other's shoulder rather hesitantly.

Herobrine narrowed his gaze at him.

"...Honestly, I could care less that you had a hand in the reason why I had to suffer under the rule of that pathetic excuse for a king. I know how old you were when you made that decision. My main issue with all this is that I was not the only one who was affected by your childish argument."

The demigod looked away from the other, suppressed anger clear in his eyes.

"...I at least knew who my family was. Steven was never given that chance until now. How do you think he feels, knowing that he descends from careless gods? Careless gods that create beings only to watch them suffer? How do you think he feels knowing that everything he knows now will only fade away? That the mortal life he lives now will fall into decay and rot as he watches helplessly?"

Before Mo could even think of a proper response, Herobrine let out a tense sigh.

"...The pain that we may face in the Nether wouldn't even begin to compare to the pain that comes from that knowledge."

"...I know that."

Mo kept quiet for a few seconds, only to let out a sigh as he decided to give Herobrine a kind, soft expression.

"...I also know how pained you are by all of this. You want to protect him from further harm, don't you?"

Herobrine remained silent, crossing his arms in front of his chest as the other divine waited for an answer.

"...To be more frank, you wish to succeed where I failed, is that correct? I can see it in your eyes."

More silence followed until Herobrine gave the other a hesitant nod.

"...I know the Nether is dangerous for those who aren't used to it, but I'll guide him through it. I know that the divines can be cruel, so I'll protect him from them. Humans need to respect him."

The older divine nodded carefully in response to his words, processing them slowly before he spoke.

"...You want to protect him as a true brother. I need to work on doing the same, as well." He said with a small chuckle.

Herobrine glared at him.

"You can start protecting him by making sure no divines come around here before we leave. They'll do anything but fight you if you're the one to confront them first."

Mo nodded.

"...Of course. If you make sure to keep Steve safe in the Nether, I'll manage things up here."

"...You could also help us by giving us the tools we need in order to face the dragon, once we get what we need from the Nether and find the End portal."

The older divine looked at him with curiosity.

"...What do you need?"

Herobrine thought to himself for a moment, closing his eyes as he did so.

"...I wish to actually introduce Steve to the Nether, properly. He needs to get into contact with the mobs there. The supplies we need from there will not be something we need from you."

"...Are you sure? I can try to-"

Herobrine sent the other an intense glare.

"-Don't."

"Alright."

Mo gave him a small sigh of exasperation.

"Do things the hard way, I guess."

Herobrine's glare softened a bit as he listened to the other.

"I won't do that entirely." He paused, looking away from Mo. "...Please provide him with the materials he'll need to create a set of durable armour. Whether that be diamond or something stronger is up to you and how much you treasure his well-being."

Mo let out a small nervous chuckle.

"You say that like I'd give him a chest plate made of leather."

Herobrine shook his head.

"...Don't give him actual armour. Only the needed materials."

"...Wait, why? Don't you want them enchanted, for his sake?"

Herobrine looked at Mo with somewhat of a neutral expression.

"...His closest ally is a blacksmith. I…I think that he considers him to be a part of his family, in this realm. What better motivator to go into battle with confidence than to wear armour made by someone who you know cares deeply for you, without a shadow of a doubt? What better than to have the assurance that someone would make something durable for your sake, with no shortcuts taken whatsoever?"

As Mo took in his words, a kind, proud smile formed on his face, causing a stern expression of annoyance to soon find its way onto Herobrine's features.

"Mojang, I swear-"

"-You're a real sweetheart deep down, you know that? You really want him to feel safe, don't you?"

The older divine went to ruffle the other's hair, prompting a growl from Herobrine, though he did nothing to stop him. The other's face flushed in embarrassment, which only managed to draw laughter from Mo's lips in response.

"I'll do what I can to get the perfect materials for some armour in your possession, as well as have the right enchantments ready for when you need them. In the meantime, you go and make sure things are ready for your trip, alright?"

Herobrine finally shoved the other's hand away, moving to walk briskly toward the entrance to the ravine.

"Gladly."

Before he reached the exit, however, he came to a stop, confusing the older divine behind him as he watched him.

Silence briefly formed before Herobrine finally decided to voice whatever thought had come to his mind abruptly.

"One question." He began.

"...What?"

"Me and Steven...We were created at the same time, correct?" He asked somewhat quietly.

Mo looked at him curiously, walking up to his side in order to hear his words better.

"...Yes. Why?"

Herobrine hesitantly continued.

"...Typically speaking, in normal circumstances, one twin has to come to life before the other. They may be born within the same amount of time, but one technically claims the 'older' title, even if it's by mere seconds. Between the two of us, who was formed first, me, or Steven?"

Mo took in the other's words carefully, somewhat confused at the fact that he even asked the question before a small smile slowly began to appear on his face. Looking down at Herobrine with kind eyes, he went to pat the other's shoulder gently.

"You're really curious about this, aren't you? Has it been haunting you?"

Herobrine shrugged off his hand.

"...Steven brought the idea up earlier. I...I found myself rather intrigued by it as well."

Mo gave him a slow nod of understanding.

"...In the brief moment I took to consider how I wanted you two to look, I had to debate with myself on whether you should share some resemblance with me or Maxwell. I made the obvious decision, and you were the first to be formed that way."

"...I was formed first?" Herobrine glanced up at Mo curiously.

"By mere seconds, like you said, you became the older sibling." Mo let out a small laugh as he finished.

A quiet sigh of relief left Herobrine's lips before he could stop it.

"...Thank you." Herobrine quietly spoke as he turned away, causing Mo to raise a slight brow.

"Was the question that important to you?" The older divine asked with a small smirk.

Silence formed in between them once again before Herobrine lowered his gaze to stare at the ground in a somewhat blank manner.

"...I was thanking you for not making us share Maxwell's features." Herobrine answered in an even softer voice.

Mo's expression slightly fell into surprise before he gave Herobrine another kind smile.

"...It's nothing to thank me over. I didn't wish to curse you." He said with a small chuckle.

Herobrine let out an amused hum.

"...Nobody would like that."

Relieved that the other was lightening up a bit, Mo let out another laugh before pointing over to the exit.

"Go and get ready! If we talk about Maxwell too much, I think that we'll accidentally summon him, or something."

Herobrine waved him off dismissively.

"Alright, alright. That's not exactly ideal for us at the moment, so I'll go."

Walking away, Herobrine briefly turned back to give Mo a small smile as he left.

"...Thank you again, truly."

Mo waved him goodbye.

"...We'll get the chance to relax and talk more about things later. Just do what you need to do, brother."

Herobrine nodded his head firmly, leaving the ravine.


Y'all, finals got me good, ngl T_T I had all of my tests on the same day one right after the other, and I was dead by the end of them XD Now that those are over tho, I get a break! :D

We're gonna return to the Nether! How fun! Steve's gonna meet some Nethren mobs, so it's gonna be a ride lmao. He thought just breathing in the place was bad lol. In addition, Herobrine's working out his brotherly role! Also fun!

Fun Facts!:

1.) Overworldian mead doesn't really hit as hard as Aethren mead does, even if it's actual mead lmao. Yes, Mo knew this and went anyways.

2.) Crying obsidian acts kinda like chorus fruit! Except the effects last longer, and the teleporting doesn't stop until, as previously mentioned, the fluids wash off. Or it dries, lol.

3.) Yes, giving people slowness potions contributed to the whole need to have a buddy system when going to the meadery.

4.) Herobrine wants Steve to actually go through the process of getting blaze powder so that he gets to experience dealing with stronger mobs lol

That's it for now, y'all! See you next time, and have a happy (early) holiday!