Chapter Text
"What is he doing??"
"I....really don't want to know.."
The two original Overworld players, Alex and Steve, stood a good distance away from a river that had a forest on the other side of it, studying Herobrine, who was standing on top of a tree, looking off into the distance.
"Maybe he's lonely. We should invite him to our place!!" Alex says excitedly, being as wild and adventurous as ever.
"Uhh..." Steve hesitated openly. "I really don't think that's a good idea..."
"Oh come on Steve, he kills all the other Minecraft players except us, he must like us! Right? It'll be funnn…" She slurs and gets up in Steve's face playfully, giving him a devilish smile.
The older player from Alpha sighs. He's never quite understood Herobrine. He sees him rarely, and when he does encounter him, Herobrine always disappears as if he doesn't want to be seen. Steve remembers back in the Alpha days Herobrine and Notch had got into a fight. Apparently, their fight changed Minecraftia’s universe. Steve remembers seeing Herobrine one night, mining by himself. Upon walking towards him, Herobrine vanished out of sight into an oak forest and Steve never found him again till the Beta days. Sometimes Steve would hear things in his old house. Sometimes he'd hear the oak planks on the floor of his house creaking at night. Sometimes he'd hear teleportation sounds coming from inside his house. And sometimes, only sometimes, he'd find redstone torch trails, sometimes thousands of blocks long that led to massive underground cave systems. Steve never talked to Herobrine, and Herobrine never talked to Steve. Back then it was simply a silent, playful game between the two, but it might've been more dangerous and sinister than Steve thought it to be.
"Well, I'm not going to acknowledge his presence in any way, but you go for it if you want to... Just...be careful.." Steve says to Alex worryingly and bites his lower lip in nervousness, staring at the ghost-like demigod.
Alex pats her friend on the back. "Don't worry Stevie poo. Why don't you go home and make cake or something. Make something special for tonight."
"A-Alright..." He stammers and Alex nudges him along in the direction of their house. Steve sighs and gives Alex one last nervous look before heading off to the house. Steve remembers the stories the villagers used to tell him in the old Alpha days. They told him how Herobrine is the second creator and god of Minecraft. They had said that Herobrine used to be normal, but he died a horrific death. The villagers said that when he came back, he was angry and depressed. He burned the villages and he set all of his creations on fire, as well as Notch's. The villagers said that he hates all players except for one. They said that he is still creating things, but the things he's creating lie in a different dimension, The Nether. They say he created The Nether so he could escape the Overworld and dwell in his own pain and misery. The villagers told Steve that he’s the ruler of the monsters—the best leader in monster history who cares for them just like a mother cares for her child. They said that he understands monsters and speaks their tongue, for they were the ones to revive his body and give him the gifts that he has. He is part human and part monster, a ghost of Minecraft who controls the Underworld. The villagers were terrified of him and they told Steve that he must be careful, especially when entering The Nether.
Steve remembers the most important part of the conversation he had with the story-telling villagers that night. He asked them who the player was that Herobrine didn't hate, for the villagers had previously said that Herobrine hates all players except for one. The villagers looked at Steve with mysterious expressions on their faces and said the word he will never forget: "you."
When Steve got back to the house he shared with Alex, he started to gather ingredients to make a cake. He had to go out into the open grassland a few times to get milk from some cows, but other than that it was effortless to make the cake.
Steve set the cake down on a brown carpet that was on top of a fence post and went upstairs to his room. He pulled out an old, dusty book from one of his bookcases and started reading it, waiting for Alex to get home.
…
Steve didn't realize how fast time was ticking. It was sunset when he put his book down. Well, he wouldn't have put his book down if he hadn't heard the door open to the house.
"Ughhh.." He heard Alex groan from downstairs. He became worried and quickly ran down to her, thinking of the worst things that could’ve happened.
"Are you okay? Did he attack you? Did he hurt you?" Steve questioned his friend nervously.
Alex sighed and looked at Steve with a disappointed glean in her green eyes. "Nooo, it was the complete opposite!!! I went up to him and invited him to come over but then he started running away from me. I tried to follow him but I never found him! It was like he disappeared!"
"Yeah, he does that..." Steve mumbled, remembering the rare encounters he had with him.
"So I basically spent the entire day looking for him in the forest, but I never found him! That little tease!!!" Alex pouts and crosses her arms, flopping down onto a chair.
Steve looks at her and smiles, "Well, it's better than him killing you or holding you hostage."
She rolls her eyes and chuckles.
"Want some cake? It's all for us!" Steve says excitedly and sits down at the table, Alex sprinting over to the table as well. She tilts her head and examines the cake in hunger, fascination spreading across her pale face.
"Oh boy, doesn't that look good?" She says and scoops some into her mouth, Steve doing the same. Oh man, it did taste good. Cakes are so delicious and rare, it always feels like a miracle when Steve and Alex get to taste one. They both shoveled as much cake into their mouths as they possibly could until they couldn't eat anymore, feeling extremely full and satisfied.
"Thanks so much for that, I guess it pays off for my annoyance about Herobrine." Alex says and grins at Steve.
"Oh yes, cake makes everything better." Steve responds and returns her smile.
"Let's go into town tomorrow. Maybe like Skywars or Factions?" She suggests, looking at him for agreement.
"Sure." Steve complies, but he didn't really care for any of the new mini games players play together. He mostly likes to do what old players do: mine, hunt, explore, create, and survive. He likes to see Alex having fun though, so he will always go into the popular towns with her, plus she has lots of friends that she likes to see. Maybe even a boyfriend, who knows.
Alex smiles and pats Steven's shoulder lovingly, staring into his beautiful purple eyes. His eyes had small specks of neon pink along the outside of his pupils, they were very alluring. She found it interesting how similar his eyes were to the Ender Dragon's, and she knew that this connection wasn't accidental. Alex knew there was a sacred connection between Steve and the Ender Dragon, a connection that stabilizes the Overworld and the Underworld. She liked looking into his eyes, they made her feel like she was looking into the eyes of the universe, which showed her the light and the wisdom he carried that she desired. Alex wishes that Steve will teach her more about everything, about the past, but he's so quiet. He loves to isolate himself and stare off into the horizon. She'll never know why he does that, or what he's thinking about, but she respects it. She knows that Steve's mind holds many traumatic experiences, but he often expresses his love for his world, which she finds admirable.
"I'm going to swim for a little, so don't go into the bathing room unless you wanna be in for a surprise!!!" Alex giggles evilly and playfully bumps his shoulder. He looks away with a shy face and smiles, shaking his head disapprovingly.
Alex sprints down the ladder to the lower floor of the house and goes into the bathing room, stripping her clothes off and relaxing in the lava-heated water.
Steve goes back upstairs to his room and stands at his large window for a few minutes, examining the night sky. Monsters had already started coming out, they flooded the forests and grassy hills. Steve sighed and sat down on his bed, forcing himself to get away from his window. He wanted to go outside and feel the cold breeze roll through his body as he leaped up and fought the monsters once more. He loved fighting the monsters, and honestly, they seemed to love fighting him too. Over the years, Steve has actually bonded with the creatures. He'll never forget the night when he came out of his house to combat the zombies and skeletons and they smiled at him, their smiles evil and happy. They like Steve, they like to test him.
The darkness of the night got the best of Steve and he finally laid back on his red bed, pushing the wool blanket against his nose and rubbing his head into it rather adorably before drifting off to sleep. Alex had gotten out of the water and dried herself by the fireplace, climbing into her bed and falling asleep as well...
…
There was a noise. It was a small one, but loud enough to awaken the sensitive miner. His violet eyes shot wide open in suspicion and adrenaline flowed through his body. He strained his ears and listened intently...
Creeeaaaaakk.....
Something was in the house. Steve was sure of it. He couldn't tell if the sounds were footsteps or something else. He slowly got out of bed and grabbed his iron sword, nervousness yet excitement filling him. Something stopped him from going downstairs though.
Swooosh.
It sounded like something had moved very fast. Is it an Enderman? No...there was no teleportation sound.
Right as Steve thought that, there was a teleportation sound. It was insanely close too. There's an Enderman in the house! How weird! Steve thought and gripped his sword, running down the stairs as fast as he could, just to see that nothing was there. The nervous excitement left Steve's body and he frowned. Well, what did I expect? Enderman don't like to stay in one place for a long period of time.
He went to the door and looked out, not seeing any monsters in sight, which was abnormal to say the least. Instead, he saw something much more shocking. Steve's eyes widened to the size of small moons and he accidentally dropped his sword. There, right outside the door, was a trail of redstone torches that went off into the distance, winding up a stone mountain and disappearing out of sight.