“Hello?” Herobrine called, knocking on Notch’s door. He hadn’t come out for a whole day, and Herobrine was getting worried. “Do you want something to eat?”

“I’m fine,” Notch replied hoarsely, and Herobrine jumped. Notch sounded… cold, rough.

“D-did you sleep last night?” Herobrine asked hesitantly. When there was no answer, Herobrine pushed open the door.

In an instant, Notch was on the other side, holding it back with remarkable force. “Don’t come in here!” he yelled, causing Herobrine to flinch from his sudden outburst. “You can’t come in here!”

“Okay… damn…” Herobrine muttered, closing the door slowly. “He’s lost it,” he smiled to himself.

“And you’ve lost him,” a voice came from behind him, and Herobrine saw Steve standing there.

“He’ll be fine. It’s just… a phase,” Herobrine said, but he wasn’t sure if he believed his own words.

“Face it, brother. He told you he’d find a way to get rid of the mobs, and he’ll prove it.”

Herobrine gasped. “Just like Hal…” He looked at Steve anxiously. “We need to tell Core!”

However, Steve only shrugged. “Core’s not going to help us now. The two of them hate each other.”

“Then let’s tell someone else! Anyone!”

“And how will they be able to help? We can’t just have someone convince Notch to change his mind. We need someone who can force him to abandon his obsession.”

“Force…” Herobrine murmured. His eyes lit up. “I’ve got it!”

“Who?” Steve said sceptically. Herobrine looked at him excitedly.

“An enderchild.”

~o~O~o~

“I still don’t know how you roped me into this,” Steve whined, trudging behind Herobrine tiredly. His full diamond armour weighed him down considerably, and the heavy weight was beginning to have an impact on his walking.

“Shush,” Herobrine hissed, checking the map Runnel had given to him. Steve wondered how he didn’t get tired from walking around in his matching set of armour. “Musket isn’t that far off. I’m sure we can get her to work for us.”

Steve shuddered. “I came from that village, brother. I know what she’s like. You won’t believe the ways she uses her powers. Can’t we ask another enderchild?”

“Oh yes! Let’s just ask that enderchild that lives right next door to us!” Herobrine said with fake cheerfulness, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Enderchildren aren’t that easy to come across. She’s the only enderchild we know.”

Suddenly Steve remembered something. “When our village came to attack you, there was a huge storm that attacked us. That can’t have been natural. Who did that?”

Herobrine fell quiet. Steve stopped walking, and a few blocks away, Herobrine stopped too. “I… I don’t know what it was,” Herobrine whispered, his back to Steve. “I was fighting someone… Mack, their name was. Then I heard my brother, calling for help. That was when… when I felt the power surging through me. Something took control of my body, and although I could see and hear everything, I couldn’t control anything I was doing.

“I knocked Mack away, and my punch was so powerful that she went flying over the village wall. I don’t know what happened to her after that. I jumped up in the air, and I went so high that it felt like I had wings. Then I came back down again, and landed in the earth with enough force to make a crater where I landed. I felt myself say something. The sky turned dark, and lightning struck the people in front of me. I think a couple escaped, but as for the rest of them…

“After that, everything went back to normal. Whatever it is, I can’t control it. Steve… we need to find the enderchild.”

It was Steve’s turn to fall quiet. “I understand,” he said eventually. “Let’s get moving. I’m not sure if we’ll get back before dusk.”

“Agreed. Let’s go.”

~o~O~o~

“Are you ready?” Celt asked Fae. Fae nodded. After much persuasion, her creator had finally let her stop calling him ‘master’. Instead, he had chosen the name ‘Celt’. Even though it wasn’t his real name, it was a lot better than referring to him as ‘master’ all the time.

“But why is this necessary?” Fae asked. “They’re just two people. Can’t we let them get on with their lives?”

“Trust me,” Celt said with a smirk, which worried Fae slightly.

Sometimes she wished that she wasn’t so dependent on Celt’s essence. She just wanted to run away, leave her past behind. She didn’t want to be known as the evil enderchild anymore. More than anything, she wanted a friend.

However, the village didn’t see her like that. They saw her as the tyrannical ruler, reigning over her subjects with terror and fear. Celt was the closest thing to a friend she had. Besides, if she left him, she’d die within a month. She had no choice but to stay.

“They’re nearly here,” Celt said. “Get ready. This is your first unaccompanied mission.”

“U-unaccompanied!?” Fae gaped. Celt laughed freely.

“If you get in trouble, I won’t be there to save you this time. Use your essence wisely.”

However, Fae was thinking of other things. This was her chance. She could abandon him forever. She knew how far Celt could see from the cave, and if she looked for long enough, she was certain to find another enderchild.

But this was also her chance to prove herself to Celt. She could kill the one that had escaped her grasp, and also kill the traitor. Celt would be proud of her, and maybe they could even become friends.

“Now go!” Celt ordered, and Fae checked her headphones one more time. Visor in place, she ran to greet the visitors.

~o~O~o~

“Do you think she’ll agree?” Steve said nervously. Herobrine brushed off his worries with a laugh.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” he said. “Besides, we’ve already flicked the lever. There’s no turning back now.”

Abruptly the door swung open, and the two of them saw Fae looking at them with a smile. However, Herobrine could see tension behind that smile, nervousness. “Be careful,” Herobrine said in a low voice, just loud enough for only Steve to hear. He gave the tiniest of nods in return.

“Come in!” Fae beamed, and the two of them walked in cautiously. Both familiar and unfamiliar faces looked at them. Some were friendly, but others gave them hostile glares. Herobrine tried to look away, but there were people everywhere.

“So, how are you?” Herobrine asked, trying to take his mind off the stares. Fae looked surprised at the question.

“I-I’m all right,” she said. After a moment, she added, “What about you?”

“I’m good,” Herobrine smiled. Fae’s expression was unreadable. The pair fell into awkward silence.

“Where are we going?” Steve asked quietly after a while. “It’s getting dark…”

“You can stay in the lookout tower,” Fae said quickly. “There isn’t space anywhere else. Just keep on walking straight down here.” She turned and started walking away hurriedly.

“But we want to ask you something,” Herobrine said confidently. Fae stopped walking. “Our brother, Notch, wants to kill all the mobs in Minecraftia. Will you help us?”

Fae didn’t answer. Finally she said, “It’s time to go to bed.” Herobrine watched her walk away, even faster this time.

“You’re just like the rest of them,” he muttered angrily, and Fae turned around sharply.

“Excuse me?” she said, returning to Herobrine and standing face-to-face with him.

“Nobody listens to me! You all think that he doesn’t matter, don’t you? You don’t understand what I’ve been through. I don’t know why I ever bothered to come here. You’re just like any other enderchild. There isn’t a spark of goodness in you!”

“I never wished to be like this!” Fae shouted. “You think I want to be a stupid enderchild? You think I like being mean to people? I just want to have a friend! But nobody sees me as a friend. They all see me as the evil ruler. It isn’t my choice! If I don’t do what Celt tells me to do, I’ll die!”

“Celt?” Herobrine repeated. Fae’s hands flew to her mouth. “Who the heck is Celt?”

“It’s none of your business,” Fae said, her face burning with embarrassment and anger.

“Fae. You’re always welcome to come to our village,” Herobrine whispered kindly, laying a hand on Fae’s shoulder. However, she brushed it away.

“Goodnight, Brine,” Fae said, and teleported away. Herobrine sighed.

“It’s too dark to go back now,” Steve stated. Herobrine glared at him.

“Congratulations! You win a gold star. Now let’s get to sleep,” Herobrine said irritably. Even though he had tried his hardest, he had failed. All he wanted now was a good night’s rest.

The two of them walked through the lookout’s entrance. The door swung shut behind them, and Herobrine whirled around at the sudden noise. It was an iron door, and there was no button to be seen. “We’re trapped!” he shouted, panicked.

“Not quite,” Steve grinned, and brought out a pickaxe. “Core gave me this just in case I ran across any good materials. I’m sure he’ll be very happy with a brand new iron door!”

“Yes! Mine away!” Herobrine smiled, and Steve started mining at the door. However, it didn’t work. “What the–” Herobrine started, before seeing the message in the chat. You can’t destroy blocks in the territory of Musket.

“Impossible!” Herobrine yelled, raising his eyes to the heavens. They widened in horror when he saw row upon row of dispensers lining the walls. “There must be some way out of here!”

“The ladder!” Steve cried, and Herobrine followed him up to the ladder leading to the roof. It was no use. The walls were too high for them to jump over.

“We’re doomed,” Steve said, depressed, and Herobrine nodded sadly.

~o~O~o~

Fae landed in the cave, slightly dizzy after the teleport. Her body still hadn’t completely adjusted to the ender essence. Celt was still standing there. “Disposed of them already?” he asked.

“Not yet,” Fae said truthfully. “But I’ve got them trapped. And I set up plenty of dispensers, which will spawn a ton of zombies. They’ll be done for in no time.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Flick the switch and let the zombies loose!”

“But… is this really necessary? Why do we have to get rid of them?”

“Listen to me, Fae. Those two have a brother. This brother is planning something big. Really big.”

“So we should help them, and help that brother of theirs too!”

“It’s not that simple. Their brother won’t give up. It’ll be much better for us to wait for him to finish his creation, then steal it away from him at the last second. Besides, if you don’t kill them, then ultimately… you will die.”

“What!? How’s that possible?”

“I know a lot more than you’d think,” Celt said. “Now go and flick the lever before I do it myself, and reveal who you really are to the village.”

For the longest time, Fae didn’t answer. Could she kill them? Sure, Herobrine had almost killed her, and Steve had run away from the village. She didn’t like to kill people, though. They didn’t need to die. She was the one who deserved to die. All she did was spread fear wherever she went. Although her intentions were kind, somehow she always ended up being the villain. She didn’t want that to happen. She just wanted to be normal.

 “I’ll be back,” Fae said, and walked away.

~o~O~o~

Herobrine was just about to give up hope when he saw a figure approaching them. “Help! Help us! Destroy the door!” However, when he saw who it was, his stomach sank. “This is the end.”

Fae stood in front of the door. Herobrine felt hope reignite in his heart. He would try one last time to get her to change her mind.

“It doesn’t have to be this way!” he yelled with newfound optimism. “Think about your options! I’m sure there’s some other way! Join our village; I’m sure Core will forgive you!”

“It’s much more complicated than that,” Fae said.

“I know it might be complicated. But please, just listen to me! Whatever it is that you want, we can supply it. Just tell me!”

Fae sighed exasperatedly. “Since you’re about to die anyway, I might as well tell you. I’m not a real enderchild.

“I was artificially spawned by Celt. I need ender essence to live, which Celt supplies me with. Celt’s the only real enderchild around here. I’m not even a real person. I’m just broken code. Without his ender essence, I can’t live.”

“So? We can repair it, I just know it!” Herobrine pleaded, getting over his initial shock. “We’ll find another enderchild for you. You don’t need to kill us!”

“But you tried to kill me!” Fae retorted, and Herobrine was shocked to see a tear roll down her cheek.

“I had no other option,” Herobrine trembled. “Anyway, you lived through that one, didn’t you?”

“Most of my raid group didn’t!” Fae screamed, “Do you know what it’s like, knowing that you were the reason the people you were responsible for lost their lives? Do you know what it’s like, walking into the village and having people stare at you while you return to your house with only a couple of people in tow, hiding your face with shame? Of course you don’t! You live happy lives in your happy town, happily going about every happy day. It’s not like that over here. I have to do this for my village. For me!”

“It’s your choice,” Herobrine said quietly. Fae gasped.

“I… I…” she said. Herobrine smiled. He knew Fae would change her mind.

“I’m sorry, Herobrine,” Fae said, and flicked the switch.

Extra long chapter for all you boodiful little readers! Sadly no fanart today *sigh* but I hope y'all enjoyed it all the same! If you haven't already, follow me for the latest updates and art and stuff! Thank you all for reading!

And yes, before you ask, this is a re-upload.

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