You wait patiently in your cell. It is already the end of the next day, and what a day! Herobrine had given you the all clear to lead a whole squadron of his troops, and train them as well. You, however, couldn't care any less.
"Psst! (Y/n)!" Sandrah whispers into the dark place, her voice easily bouncing off the stones which make up every wall, sceiling, and floor. You stand, leaving your cell, knowing full well what is going on.
"Stay quiet." You smirk, accepting her black cloak as you hand her your ragged blanket in return. She simply nods, and drapes the blanket over her head, covering her blond hair. You do the same with her cloak, throwing it over yourself and pulling the hood over hour head, so that your own head and body are barely visible.
"Oh, and... Here's a dagger, for good luck." She hands the object over to you, obviously caring very little for the blade. You inspect it for any form of a tracking device as you walk out of the dark dungeon area, and into the light of the red hallways. It is a shiny silver blade, with a dark oak handle very well crafted as well. The tip of the blade itself is also decorated with engravings of a couple graceful looking fish, booth engravings on each side are filled in with lapis, adding a very pretty appeal to such a deadly weapon. All you care about it's looks, is that it looks sharp enough to cut through bone if needed.
After leaving Sandrah to pretend to be you for a night -- hopefully not any more -- you lead yourself down the halls, trying your best to mimic the way you notice Sandrah always does: so confident, so strong and skilled, yet so foolish in so many ways. With a sigh of relief, you are delighted your memory hasn't failed you as you turn a corner to find a portal. With luck, this should be the one that leads not far from your own home. As unnerving it is to know a portal leads so close to home, at least it should make for a quick visit. Perhaps, you can even find a way to help your true side win this war.
After a moment to quickly search the robe you had been given for any form of a tracking device, you walk into the frame of the portal, waiting for your mind to prepare to go through the rest of the plan.
"Have a safe trip, Sandrah!" Your entire body flinches, shoulders spiking up, neck shrinking between them. Herobrine waves behind you. Gaining together your composure, you casually wave back, not turning around so that he can see your face, and quickly step through.
Once through on the other side, you release a large sigh of relief, hands falling on your knees as you catch your breath, chuckling nervously. You better make this quick. You just hope a fellow soldier or even your family themselves will be able to let General Steve know of your predicament, and hopefully find a way that you can somehow pass on any important information onto them. Looking up from your worried self, your eyes catch onto the moon and stars shining overhead. It is such a beautiful sight. Trees stretch in a circle around you, and the pale blue lighting bounces off the grass and flowers the portal has lead you to. Past the trees, you can see distant hills -- hills that even look a little familiar. Searching the horizon, your eyes light up at the sight of a multitude of soft yellows as light rises from a nearby valley, surrounded by careless hills.... Home.
Excitement filling you, you bolt off down the hill, the darkness making it a little hard to watch for the occasional rocks jutting out from the earth, but you manage, and are at the bottom shortly. Now you have only one hill left to climb and desdend, before you can finally meet with your family again. Your heart swells with joy, unable to wait any longer. You imagine the scared but glad, but also shocked faces of Derik, Sadey your mom, and even Anna as you show up again after having been gone for so long. They surely will be surprised.
Half way in your ascent up the hill, the cardio finally reaches you, making you stop for a short moment to catch your breath, which is somehow a little harder compared to what it was before. Shrugging it off, you continue, but the struggle for air only gets worse. Finally, as you breath through your nose, and finally take a moment to taste the air, you realize why. Smoke. And a ton of it too.
Eyes widening, you quicken your pace up the hill, growing careless as you don't dodge a rock which bruises your shin. You need to get to the top of the hill to see what could possibly be going on. But, at the same time, you are too worried to find out... It couldn't possibly be..
It is. ... Fire.
As you reach the top of the hill, your jaw drops, tears reaching your eyes as you view a town covered in flames. Chaos ensuing. Screams rising from within the valley. So many lives needing to be saved.. Your family...
With determination pumping through your veins, your legs are a blur beneath you, as you allow gravity to pull you down the hill at an insane speed. And if you fall, you just roll with it, turning it into a speed boost. Soon you are down at the same level as the majority of the buildings burn, eyes darting between roaring orange for directions towards home. Even though you have lived here practically your whole life, everything just looks so different when it is being torn apart by flames.
A scream, and you watch as a house nearby is on the verge of collapsing. Unable to stop the urge to help, you run over to the house, where a young family is scurrying through the door. Still the mother and her little boy remain on the inside, and the front doorway no longer has the strength to stand. Rushing up to it, you lift your arms above your head to each side and hold together the beam, flames eating away at the edge of your cloak. The weight of the rubble really begins to weigh down on you, so you are glad when the father of the family helps out. In mere moments the mother and child are safe, and the father urges you to leave first. You listen, running off into the direction you now recognize as home, making sure as you run that the father too makes it out safely. He does. At least you were able to help somebody.
Crtrrk!
You are about half way there when another set of screams, along with the sound of a massive wooden beam breaking catches your attention. You turn quickly to view eight men holding up the massive beam, which a gathering of families is quickly fleeing from underneath. Moved to help, you assist the men in holding up the beam, allowing the families underneath to escape. Good. You are quick again to leave that time, fleeing for home. However, on your way there, again, you spot some more in need. An old couple are attempting to haul out a few small picture frames from their burning house. A house which is nearly about to collapse on them. Sprinting feet bring you to help them as well, grabbing both their hands and swiftly leading them out right before the house collapses in a firey mess of flames.
Finally, you are close enough to reach home without anymore interruptions. As much as you would love to help out more, it seems as if there are already men and women alike helping where they can, allowing you to run back for home, and see if your own family is alright.
Racing feet carry you along the pathway which leads to the house, all of Sadey's beautiful flowers burning along either side of the path. The flames are still going. You keep running, lungs pained by the amount of smoke, eyes stinging now. Still, the fire hasn't stopped yet. You look onward, eyes stopping on the once vine-covered archway, now full of nothing but flames. And, past that... everything looks fine. A burning tree crashes down behind you, making you run forward and under the orange archway, dodging little life eaters as they fall with their burnt food. Once past it, however, you are surprised to not even smell the smoke which had been driving your lungs crazy only a minute ago. Fire engulfs the forest all around the house, but the house itself...completely untouched. As usual, there are a few decorative lanterns which light up the area around the house and it's front porch, swaying casually in the little breeze, but still.. no fire.
"Hm, what took you so long, (Y/n)?" ....You suddenly freeze, recognizing that voice. That deep, snarky but threatening, voice. Your eyes trail to your front porch, where a single rocking chair rocks slowly. Atop the chair, a man with two glowing white eyes sits, looking directly into yours. His face is neither threatening or inviting, somehow a nearly impossible medium, with his lips curled up only slightly into a smile, as his brows rest neither low or high on his forehead. An eerie look of calm resting upon him.
To make things only worse, you see another face not too far from his. One of a little girl you care so dearly for. Anna. There, she sits with two terrified eyes, atop Herobrine's left leg, as his left arm is wrapped around her holding her firmly in place. You are frozen solid, not sure how to take in the situation. You can clearly tell this is some sort of hostage situation, but.. how did he even know..?
"Don't be afraid to move as you please, (Y/n). This is your house afterall." You can tell he is hiding a smirk as he continues to rock slowly with your young niece in his lap. "..Well, come on. Don't be shy. Your mother and sister in law are making us some tea that we can have a chat over, and your brother has already run off to help those in the village." He says, another chair and small table materializing to his left, the chair facing him at an angle.
You walk forwards slowly, studying everything about him, as well as looking around for any further threats. There appear to be none, other than the fire stopping in a perfect ring around the entire house, smoke from it being pushed back by some kind of invisible barrier. You step forwards with careful feet under you, every step worried it is making the wrong move. Herobrine waits for you patiently, as you slowly make your way up to the front porch. He gestures with his head for you to go ahead and have a seat. Stepping up onto the porch, you pull your table away slightly, locking eyes with Anna, who is utterly terrified, and sit slowly in your chair, cringing when it creaks a little underneath the new weight. You sit stiffly, while Herobrine leans back in his, still rocking a little.
Soon after you sit down, you jump, hearing the front door behind you open and two familiar women slip through, silently setting the tea down on the little table, also keeping their distance from the white eyed man. Poor Anna sits stiffly, pleading with her eyes for her mother to help, but you all know that would be a pretty impossible thing to do in this situation. After they had served, Herobrine gestured for them to leave, and they reluctantly did so, quietly going back into the house once again. All you can do is wish he has mercy enough not to kill everyone here in an instant. Maybe, perhaps, you can negotiate something with him that involves your family being allowed to live. Well, heh.. at least you got your answer about whether they were really alive or not.
Herobrine lifts his right hand, effortlessly levitating his cup of tea into his hand. You keep your eyes on him as you lean over to quickly snatch yours. The air is tense, and you have no idea what to do.
"You know... I just think it is rather funny, that you believed it possible to trick someone who can read minds." He started, taking a sip from his cup. Your heart sinks, realizing all that plan had been for pretty much nothing. "..Do you mind telling me why?"
You look up at him warily, deciding not to make full eye contact with him. "M' srry- I just needed to know that everyone was safe." You mumbled.
"Ah, but, you see. With you gone, I run the risk of you spilling all our secrets, and I can't possibly have that, now can I?" He says, right after, allowing his cup to hover again as he repositions the way he is sitting. Anna gives a minuscule yelp as she is lifted with zero effort and placed on Herobrine's right leg instead, where she once again sits very stiffly. You nod slightly, knowing he likely already knows that had been part of your plan all along. Setting his left elbow down on the arm of his chair and leaning on it a bit, the immortal lets out a sigh of annoyance. "Hhhh, oh, what am I going to do with you and your family now?.. I could so easily just kill you all, but, your escape was quite clever, and I really like how you handled Sandrah back there, as much as I also dislike it, as well.. Hmmm, if only there was a way for me to know you wouldn't betray me again?." Then he waited, sipping again at his tea, as if waiting for you to answer.
"...Uumm, well...." You have no idea what to say. "You could always not kill us, and then I would just go back to the Nether and continue as before." As much as you loathe the words you speak, you realize that would probably be the best position right now, and hopefully it would ease your enemy off the idea of killing your family for the sake of revenge.
"Yeah, but.. You see.. I need you to step up now. You have already proven to me that you can handle a much greater challenge... I just need to find a way to know that I can trust you in such a position." He continues by leaning back in his chair, right hand on Anna's little shoulder, looking at you as if he already has something in mind. You mentally gulp, heart beginning to race with anticipation. Dlearly, he wants you to ask a what his idea is.
"Uu... What, exactly is the idea you have in mind?" You ask, unable to keep yourself from sinking a little into your chair.
He smiles deviously. "There is a small town a decent distance from here: Aekerwood. Living in that town.. is a master at brainwashing." He follows it up with a smirk as he watches your eyes grow wide.
"Uh, exactly why are you telling me this? And, Anna is literally right here!" You thrust your arm out in a gesture, arm shaking, even though you fight so hard to keep your emotions under control. "She will just tel-"
"Oh, the little one is coming too. I can't have you running off again in the meantime. We will be traveling mostly on foot, of course; following a series of passes, each with troops needing instruction. May as well multitask, if you know what I mean? By the time we reach Aekerwood.. the armies will all be ready to strike." He ends with a wide grin, as it all comes out in such a low, devious manner. A series of small shakes finally break through you, watching as Anna trembles, hearing the news as clearly as you.
"..Again, why tell me all of this?" You repeat.
"Simple. That way I know whether you think it will work or not, and you seem to believe it will do rather well.."
You scoff. "Pff! For you! But for me!?-"
"Yeah but was I ever really thinking about your opinion? Mmpf.. I don't think so." He interrupts, shaking his head, his obnauctious smile not falling off his face yet. He still waits for you to respond, or perhaps he is just reading into your mind again, a very strange power indeed. Hopefully he hasn't seen all the countless images you made in your head of you killing him one way or another. "Nothing to say?.. Shame. Oh well! Let's move on then." He stands from his chair right away, collecting Anna in his arms, a little at his side, the way Derik would most commonly hold her when carrying her around the house as a toddler. As you stand as well, backing away with nothing to say, you watch as Anna's inner warrior kicks in.
"Let me GO!." She screams, beginning to kick and hit the unphased man holding her. "I am sowy I shouted your name so much! I- I- I want my mommy and daddy and grammie!" Your mother and Sadey quickly open the front door, eyes wide and filling with tears at the sight of the immortal walking down from the porch with their little angel still in his merciless hold. You quickly rush to them, whispering to the two that she is going to be okay, hugging both as tears of hopelessness brim all three of your eyes. "Don't brainwash Aunt (Y/n)! She hates you! You killed her daddy!!.. I..." Anna's voice drifted away the moment the man placed a firm hand on her forehead, instantly making her drift off into a deep sleep.
"Nooo! Give me back my Anna!" Sadey shouts, trying to break away from you so she can run at the enemy, but you hold her back, not wanting her to make things worse. You know Anna is now mostly in the clear, since he needs her to keep you in line, but he could likely kill Sadey or your mother without any second thoughts. She begins crying hopelessly, picking up that not even you are willing to fight against it.
"It is going to be okay.." You repeat to the two other ladies again, wishing it could be so for you as well. "I promise.." You make both women look you directly in the eyes, tears now falling down both their faces, and just about to fall down yours. "I promise, that Anna will come back safely. What I want you guys to do, is find Ae-"
"(Y/n), it is time to go." Herobrine orders bluntly, now turned around and staring straight at you, little Anna asleep with her head on his shoulder. Bashfully, you step away from the other two, saying a small, tearful goodbye, before running up to the immortal man. He turns once you are close behind, and begins walking away, towards the now burnt archway, only a few flames remaining on it. As you two walk away in silence, Herobrine turns his head slightly to ask you one last question. "Would you like your house overcooked, or medium rare?"
"Medium, rare..?" Your answer comes out as a question, head turning back to the house.
"Hmf. Alright then. Have it your way." He huffs. You watch as suddenly the smoke is allowed in through the invisible barrier, and your eyes widen. Luckily, however, most of the fire is gone already, having tone further into the forest for more reachable objects to eat. You sigh with relief. At least your house, and the rest of your family will be okay. "If I were you... (Y/n), I would be much more worried for my own well being." It comes out like, and you know it is, a threat. You finally do gulp, picking up the nasty scent of smoke again, and continue walking. "Hm, may as well take the shortcut." Herobrine mumbles to himself, and suddenly his hand is holding your shoulder. Before you can even attempt to pull away, your entire body is overwhelmed with a tingling feeling, as you vanish in a mix of bright white particles, along with your young niece, and the enemy who you couldn't despise any more.