Nothing was visible. An endless void of darkness filled Lyla's vision as she floated around the blank space for what felt like hours.
"Lyla!!" Lyla heard (Y/n)'s voice call from beyond the darkness.
"(Y/n)!? (Y/n), where are you!?" Lyla shouted back, looking around frantically. Then she saw a familiar hand pierce the darkness, desperately reaching out for her. Lyla's heart jumped at the sight of her dear little sister's hand, and she grabbed it quickly, ready to pull her sister out of the darkness, but instead of what she had planned, her sister pulled her in. The hand turned flat and hard and Lyla's entire body slammed into a cold hard surface. The darkness shifted away from her and Lyla found herself looking at a large mirror, on the other side was (Y/n). Immediately, Lyla marveled at her little sister's beauty. Her beautiful hair flowed perfectly over her shoulders. She was wearing a beautiful red and black dress that fit her perfectly. Lyla, in a way, felt as if she were standing before royalty. Her little sister's face looked more mature as she smiled through the reflection. "(Y/n), you need to tell me where you are so I can find you.. please?" Lyla's eyes began to water as she pressed her hand against the glass, her sister copying her every movement. She knew this was a dream, but she hoped that maybe, somehow, this could help her. But, (Y/n) only smiled and did nothing more.
But then, the reflection of (Y/n) faded, being replaced with Lyla's own plain reflection. Her own hair a mess and her outfit sloppy. Some dirt smudges were on her cheeks, and her posture and, well, everything, was just imperfect! Nothing seemed to fit about her just right. She was just too, ugly.. After a moment of looking sadly at her own reflection, having backed away from it when the image of her sister faded, her reflection changed again, but not to a completely different person this time. It was still herself, but her structure became slimmer and more lady-like. Her face softened and her eyes twinkled. Her hair became a beautiful wavy brown that settled on her shoulders like it were almost weightless. All signs of imperfection on her face faded away and she stood taller. A beautiful flowing golden dress draped loosely about her like she were some majestic angel. All of a sudden, Lyla, looked perfect. She looked like how she would imaging herself in fantasy stories. Always the beautiful faced angel of the story, with deep dark brown eyes that could glide into someone's soul.
Lyla quickly looked down at herself, disappointed to see the dirty light grey t-shirt and loose light blue jean pants she always wore, her hair not perfect in the slightest! So she looked back up, the beautiful copy of herself still there. She raised her right hand. So did her reflection. She raised her left leg a little. So did her reflection. She then struck a pose she had always wanted to, but never wanted to get laughed out of the park for doing; most of the laughing probably by herself. And again, so did her reflection. Then, Lyla, feeling that just maybe, she could become this person if only;, she reached her hand out and slowly began to lean in toward the mirror. Her right hand almost touching her reflection, she felt as if when she just touched it, she would finally become as beautiful as her reflection.
"Lyla.." Someone's voice interrupted her concentration, snapping her out of the dark void and into reality, with her laying her back against a boulder, sitting on hard stone, just waking from her sleep. "..Lyla, it's morning." Steve gently tapped her shoulder. Not feeling comfortable in the position she was in, Lyla slowly fell over onto her side -- away from Steve -- and stretched like a tired kitty. On the floor still, she began falling back to sleep. "Lyla. We need to get going. The Trudgers will most likely be after us." Steve said much more sternly that time. Lyla yawned and stretched again, not liking the feeling of the course stone floor rubbing against her skin. After a few moments, however, Lyla sat up and looked tiredly out the cave entrance she had fallen asleep in. Steve was just finishing packing everything up and ready for the hike. A cool breeze swept into the cave, making Lyla shiver and wake up faster. After a few moments of sitting there being cold, Lyla put on her coat and sat down next to the remaining embers that had made up the fire, still not wanting to get up quite yet. "Oh come on, Lyla. I thought you were the morning person." Steve pinpointed. Lyla yawned.
"Yeah, but, *yawn* I always fell asleep pretty early too. I never stayed up late, especially past midnight." She huffed, still yawning. Little did Lyla realize just how much of a tired little girl she was making herself look like, stretching and yawning, not caring if she was rolling around. Steve found it quite amusing. Finally, Lyla snapped fully awake and sat up straight. With the sudden motion, Lyla felt a little nautilus for a brief moment. Then she realized she had a terrible pain in her stomach, like she might barf any minute. Steve had just left to get a quick scope of the area and look at the map, so Lyla had to figure out what was wrong with her on her own. She preferred it that way anyways. It seemed like she was a little sick. Maybe even had a mild fever, but what on earth could cause it? She hadn't eaten anything moldy, that she knew of at least. Nor had she been around anyone else feeling sick. Then that thorn scrape was brought to her attention. It wasn't itchy like they usually are. It must have not healed properly. Maybe that was how some germs got in! She quickly pulled her pant leg up a little and looked at the scratch. It had scabbed, but not too well. Some spots around it looked a little purple even. Lyla sighed to herself. It shouldn't be anything devastating. If anything, it would only be annoying at most. It was that annoying bit that made Lyla frown. She should have washed that cut when she had the chance. Steve came back with his map in hands and walked over to Lyla to show her what was on it. Lyla quickly covered her cut as he came over, worried he would get worried and force her to abandon the mission.
"Okay, so here's the plan." Steve laid down the map in front of Lyla and pointed at a forest. "We are right here." He said. Then he traced his hand over the terrain until they reached the mountain range. "Now the quickest way to the portal will be between these two mountains. There shouldn't be enough snow there yet for us to worry about any avalanches."
"Uhu.." Lyla agreed without much on her mind, which Steve noticed.
"Hey, are you feeling alright?" He asked.
"Fine! Just, a little tired." Lyla jumped up. Then she zipped up her coat while Steve rolled up the map and the two-headed off on their treacherous journey. For a long time, nothing much changed. All the trees looked the same, except they varied in size, and the occasional mossy rocks didn't serve as useful landmarks either. Luckily, Steve seemed to know the map front to back, and he had no trouble navigating..
It was finally night. A long day had passed. Steve left to grab some food real quick while Lyla pitched the tents. Luckily, her stomach feeling queasy was just an early morning thing, but the slight fever made her feel colder than she already was. At least there was no snow, yet.
When Steve arrived at camp with some fresh rabbit meat, he saw Lyla huddled right in front of the fire.
"Wow, someone's cold." He chuckled, adding a few longs to the fire soon after. Lyla wished she had waited for a thicker coat a little as she sat there feeling like an icicle. "Hey, are you okay? You are looking a little pale." Steve pointed out, a hint of worry in his eyes. Wait a minute.. How come he was all of a sudden so much more worried about Lyla, when not a couple days before he would only grunt if she tripped?! He wasn't making much sense.
"..No, I'm good." Lyla said tiredly. "I, just, *yawn* need some more sleep." She said.
"Heh, o-okay, just hold that thought while I roast some rabbit." Steve said. Lyla sat up and stared into the fire as Steve set up something to hold the rabbit meat up above the fire. Then, the two both sat and waited for the meat to cook, Steve sitting on one log while Lyla sat with her back resting against the log she was sitting at, to Steve's left.
"..Soo, how do you know Herobrine?" Lyla asked all of a sudden, the question finally too big to hold back. Steve looked surprised first, but soon slouched and sighed quietly. He watched the dancing flames for what seemed like a while before finally answering.
"Hhhh, we were, brothers, I guess you could say.."
"Wh?! Really?!"
"..Yeah, it was kind of confusing though. We were half brothers in terms. Our dad: Notch, abandoned the world entirely after Herobrine's mother died, and my mom, the, hhhh.." Steve stopped explaining for a moment, trying to think. "So, Notch, my dad, got married, had me, and left because I wasn't exactly the child he wanted... He later married another lady, had Herobrine.. and was much happier with him..." Steve looked at the ground solemnly. Lyla watched his almost sad expression, not sure if she should comfort him. "So, when he left Herobrine too along with the rest of the world, it didn't really shock me... But ya'know, Herobrine, thought it was all his fault and tried getting his father's attention by showing feats of strength, which, eventually.. corrupted him..." The story Steve told was definitely different from what Lyla had heard all the legends say. Most of them implied that Herobrine was actually Notch's BROTHER, not his son. This new story too, came with a lot of new questions.
"Wait, I don't see why your dad would just abandon you. What did he even want?! You and Herobrine do look pretty similar." Lyla asked. Steve sighed.
"Notch wanted someone who could take his place as peace keeper of the world. I, just didn't have the kind of power to do that.. but Herobrine did..." He answered.
"Okay, but there are still so many things that don't make sense, like, why would he just abandon you? Why did he have to marry someone else? Wouldn't he have to pay some sort of child abandonment fine or something? Exactly what did he mean by power? How did he get remarried so quickly? Does this mean Herobrine isn't actually a thousand years old? Did your dad have to pay taxes? Why did he leave the world? Where did he go? Is it possible for Herobrine to go and find him? How many years older than Herobrine are you? Did you ever meet his mother? Do you have any grandparents? How old do you think th-"
"Alright!" Steve interrupted Lyla's wave of questions, clearly ticked off, not directly towards her though. "..That is enough." Then Steve grabbed the cooked meat and so did Lyla. The entire time Lyla would occasionally glance over and see Steve staring at the fire, deep in thought. There was no talking for quite some time. "...Those were pretty much the exact questions I asked myself every night before bed as a young kid, well, except the taxes one. I never got any answers though." Steve said quietly. Him suddenly being so down it was odd for Lyla. For a moment, she sort of wished the grumpier version of Steve was there instead. But then she realized something. This was Steve letting down his walls, for probably one of the first times ever, and to some farmer girl with no real future!
"I.. totally get you, Steve.." Lyla sighed too, leaning back on the log with her right elbow. Steve looked at her with a raised eyebrow, wanting an elaboration. "Yup, me and (Y/n)'s life has been pretty hectic too. First off, I don't even know what happened to our parents. I just told (Y/n) they never returned from some grand adventure to The End, hoping she wouldn't feel so bad about their disappearance." Lyla told her tale. Steve listened silently.
"..How old were you when they left?" He asked quietly, almost a whisper.
"I think somewhere around twelve, maybe thirteen. (Y/n) was only seven, I know that much." Lyla spoke, feeling some tears from a couple nights ago begin to remind her of their existence.
"Wow, that is young. You really are strong to take care of your little sister so early on. You know that, right?" Steve spoke softly.
Lyla's bottom lip began to quiver as she slowly soaked in Steve's kind words. "Y-ye-a-h.." She pushed out, having a hard time keeping her breathing normal. Man! She did not think she would be the one getting all emotional! She had it planned to help him. When she looked over at Steve, she saw a couple tears swelling in his eyes as well, looking at her. Lyla just couldn't keep it in anymore. She stood up and sat besides Steve to comfort him hopefully by just being there. As she sat, she wrapped an arm around his shoulder like old pals do, but instead of things going how she expected, she was the one who began bursting into tears, no longer able to hold her sobs back anymore. Steve didn't know what to do at that moment. Tears began flooding down his cheeks, his mouth fighting to stay straight as he looked ahead at nothing. Finally, he too gave in, with his free right arm hugging Lyla and crying as well, just much quieter.
It was a sad cry-fest as the two hugged one another tightly, both trying to hold back their own tears but wanting to be there to support the other.
"Yh- you have a f-feaver." Steve pointed out when he had enough air in his lungs to breathe.
"..I know." Lyla whispered before more tears began pouring.
"-shou-ould g- o, to, sl- sleep now, L- Lyla." Steve sniffled. Lyla didn't even answer Steve's concerned comment. She fell asleep right where she was without even realizing it. Once Steve realized she had basically fainted, he waited a few minutes to calm down before carrying Lyla to her tent and making sure she was all good, before sitting back down at the fire in silence.
What the heck had just happened?! Not only was that the first time he had cried like that since he was ten, but also around Lyla?! A girl he didn't even know that well!.. But it sure didn't seem like that to him. In fact, it felt like the two had been best friends their entire lives. There was just something different about this girl. Steve didn't know what it was. Maybe it was her determination that intrigued him. Maybe it was her humor, or the way she didn't just follow him but joined in, even leading the way at times when he was stumped. Several minutes passed. Steve took those quiet moments to listen to the fire crackling, and watch the stars twinkle between the evergreen branches. In this moment of silence, Steve made a promise to himself. He would rescue (Y/n). Not just because his brother happened to be the one who took her, but because he wanted to know Lyla would be happy after they parted. That she would have her sister back, someone to talk to, someone else's shoulder to cry on.. So she could go home and just forget their treacherous adventure.. So she could continue living her life however she wants, just herself.. and her sister... Because that was the kind of life they all wanted... Right?