The journey back was uneventful. Although everyone was shaken by the death of Core, they tried their best to keep cheerful. Celt was gone for good, yet… it didn’t feel satisfying. Celt wasn’t purely evil – just misunderstood.

When everyone was asleep, Herobrine lay awake. He couldn’t sleep. Too many thoughts were floating around his head. Would Celt be all right? Was Notch really the one behind the disappearances? Herobrine had been let down so many times that he couldn’t even trust his own brother anymore.

With a sigh, Herobrine got out of bed. His stomach called, but not for bread or apples. Herobrine felt a sudden craving for cake. He tiptoed downstairs, so as not to wake up Steve, and searched through a chest for some. Having found one, he hurried back upstairs and placed the cake on the floor. He felt slightly guilty for eating a cake that Steve had worked so hard to bake, but the cravings were too great.

As Herobrine ate, his thoughts calmed a little. He could only let fate decide what was going to happen. Someone had to be the one abducting all these people, and it was just as likely to be Notch as it was for anyone else. As for Celt… he wasn’t coming back, and that was that.

After Herobrine had finished the last of the cake, he decided to check on Steve. The door clicked open as Herobrine peeked into his brother’s room. Steve was still fast asleep. Herobrine smiled slightly as he closed the door again.

However, Herobrine wasn’t tired, now that he had eaten some cake. A few failed attempts at getting to sleep later, Herobrine decided to see if he could bake another cake for Steve. The guilt was getting to him now. There were already milk and eggs in the chests downstairs, and a quick trip to the town farm yielded wheat and sugar cane. It didn’t take long for Herobrine to mix up a new cake, which he placed in Steve’s private chest. “Sorry,” Herobrine whispered, even though Steve was in dreamland.

Being able to replace the cake he had eaten lifted Herobrine’s guilt. He went back to his bed; he hadn’t realised how tired he was. Before he knew it, Herobrine was fast asleep.

There was one more room to be searched, though: Notch’s. Herobrine walked past the portal when he felt eyes staring at him. Could it be? Herobrine slowly turned to look at the portal, and saw Notch standing there, grinning from ear to ear.

“Herobrine!" he said. "I've done it!"

"What?" Herobrine asked. However, he already knew the answer.

"I've finally got everyone to help me with my plan," said Notch. Could Celt have been right? Was Notch really going to get rid of the mobs, once and for all?

"I don't understand." Herobrine understood everything perfectly.

"Let me explain everything to you,” Notch said, beginning his tale. By the time he was finished, Herobrine couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

He had pieced together all the information. Notch had given people in the other dimension the power to control people in Minecraftia, but first, they had been taken away. Notch was the one who had made the people go missing. He had taken them away without a second thought. Horrified, Herobrine took a step back. Notch simply smiled. Herobrine ran.

He ran out of the house, into the town square. Everyone in the village was talking to each other; a rare but convenient opportunity. Even Chaff was there. “Notch is responsible for the missing people!” Herobrine blurted out.

“Why would he do that?” Hal asked, laughing.

“He’s our brother!” Steve exclaimed.

“It’s true!” Herobrine said breathlessly. “Just listen to me!”

As Herobrine explained everything to the village, their laughter turned to horror. Then someone cried, “Kill him!”

“No!” Herobrine yelled, but his protest was drowned out by the shouts of agreement among the crowd. The group surged forward, and despite Herobrine’s best efforts, they ran into the house where Notch was hiding.

However, there was one person who didn’t go along with the flow. “He can’t die!” Steve shouted. “We need to stop them!”

Herobrine nodded. “After them!”

The brothers found Notch being pushed back by the angry villagers. “Why would you do that?” Boo said furiously.

“I lost Jan because of you!”

“And Drop!”

Herobrine desperately tried to calm everyone down. He hadn’t expected them to react like this. They could have resolved this peacefully, asked Notch to undo what he had done. Yet the relief of finally finding someone to blame had unlocked hidden anger in the people – anger that they had unleashed on Notch.

“I… I…” Notch stuttered, trying to defend himself against the harsh words. It was hopeless. Nobody was listening to him; just shouting heatedly. Notch sighed. “Farewell.”

And without another word, Notch disappeared. When people realised he had gone back through the portal, they tried to follow him, but it was in vain. The portal had lost its glow. This time, Notch was gone forever.

“Move! Move!” Herobrine ordered, his voice worried. Obligingly, the villagers moved. A guilty silence had settled over them.

When Herobrine reached the portal, he saw that one of the blocks that made up the border had disappeared, presumably mined away with a pickaxe. Notch obviously hadn’t wanted anyone to follow him.

Herobrine remembered Notch saying something about what the portal was made from. Purestone. He had no idea where he could get some, never heard anyone say that they knew what it even was. As far as he knew, the only blocks in the whole of Minecraftia were right here in front of him.

At that moment, Herobrine was struck by more grief than he thought was possible for any person to experience. More than he had felt when he had lost his friends in the village; more than he had felt when he had lost Fae.

“Brother…” he whispered, sinking to his knees. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. They only watched as Herobrine began to quietly cry.

Herobrine remembered all the fun times they had been through together. He remembered their first day in Excalibur, with Notch discovering his gift for building, and Herobrine’s skill at fighting. He remembered the fight against Musket, and unleashing his hidden powers. He remembered finding Steve, and taking him in like his own brother.

Then Herobrine remembered that day. The day he had been stuck outside at night, and Notch had come to retrieve him. He could still remember the words Notch spoke.

“You promised,” Herobrine said, anger rising up inside him as he got to his feet. “You promised!”

Steve rushed forward to grab Herobrine, who struggled to get out of his grip. “Let me go! The portal!”

Steve’s hands slipped, and Herobrine fell to the floor once more. His short outburst had drained him of all energy, and now all he could do was lay one hand on the broken portal and sob.

“You promised…”

For a hundred ticks, all that could be heard was Herobrine’s whimpering. Still crying, he stood up. “I’m going out,” he said to no-one in particular.

And without another word, he was gone.

I return from the lands of chronic procrastination. I'm sorry for making you guys wait so long for such a short chapter.

As for the trailer, I'm thinking of doing a machinima-style thing. More information is in the next chapter.