Ahhhhhhhhhh

~<>~

As we all stared at him in shock, Steve jutted his chin toward Jona. "Hey buddy, you got some mud on your face."

Jona wiped away the mud. "Why didn't you guys tell me...?"

"You're Steve?" I asked, trying to keep my mouth shut. A whole new list of questions exploded in my mind. Why was he out in the swamp? Why did he look so much like Herobrine? Where was he when everything anywhere happened? Did he know anything about me?

"Oh boy." He chuckled. "Did I just drop a cliffhanger worthy bombshell? You all should probably come in." He cleared the doorway.

I looked at him hesitantly. He seemed calm and collected with letting a group of random teens into his house. And a dog.

I walked slowly into the house. It seemed bigger on the inside. I didn't notice the spider in the corner at first.

There were mostly tables full of potions and potion ingredients. Chests lined the left wall, and some in the back. Papers were everywhere. A ladder went upstairs to the right next to bookshelves. There was no furniture except for a few stools here and there.

(Good enough)

Oh, and there was a spider sleeping in the corner on a wool pet bed.

"Woah." I took a step back from it.

"Oi!" Infinity scooped up Gabriel.

Skye asked, "Is that thing safe?"

"As safe as that." Steve pointed toward Gabriel. "Don't worry, Salem is harmless. Unless I tell him to attack."

That last part made me tense up. "How did you control it— him?"

"Salem was a gift. A peace offering. From Herobrine."

"Peace and Herobrine are in the same sentence?" Gordon blinked.

Steve did another chuckle. "Things were different back then. This old boy was nearly a newborn when he was given to me. I trained him, and he became my best friend. Decades later, I realized that he's like my brothers and I."

"He doesn't age?" I asked, staring at the snoring spider.

"His aging is abnormal, but I'm not sure about that. It's most likely just a slower process."

"It's nice to have a companion when you're all alone." I reminded myself of Jewel. Gods, I wondered how she was doing. And the rest of Jake's base.

"Why are you all alone out here?" Jake tapped a swirling red potion on a table.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." Steve warned. "Unless you all want to become mushrooms."

Jake raised his hands and stepped away from the dangerous mushroom potion.

Steve sat on the edge of the table. "Anyway, we'll get to why I'm out here. But first... You aren't really just lost teenagers, are you? Let's make a trade— a story for a story."

We all looked at him skeptically. We had only just met him, and he was asking for our entire story.

"You're thinking I'm suspicious." He nodded. "Understandable. But I have no part in this war. I'm not on any side."

"How did you know there's a war?" Abby narrowed her eyes.

"I know my brothers. And I know there's tensions. And now that I've seen you—" he pointed to me, "—I know it's certain. I'm not asking for any personal information. I'd just like to know what's happening."

The way he worded it made me decide that it was safe to tell him. He didn't want to cause any trouble. That was probably why he became a recluse in the first place.

So we explained our entire adventure. My awakening, the village, Jake's base, The mutant skeleton attack, the journey to Notch City, talking with the council, and Notch's return.

"I knew it." Steve shook his head. "My brother always had a thing for dramatic entrances. Sorry, continue."

We talked about the plan for Bladville, the mutant Enderman attack, riding the minecarts, getting into the city, the council decision, and the Rebels.

"Where are they now?" He asked.

Infinity shushed him. "Later."

He gave her a look, but said nothing.

We continued it with hiding underground with the Rebels, and getting into the mayor's mansion.

"That sneaky birch." Only Steve said the other naughty word. "It's just like my brother to assassinate a guy and blame it on someone else."

Mastermind coughed. "I hope you mean Herobrine and not Notch."

"I do."

Then we described the trip to the train station, and Herobrine stopping us. When we mentioned the code, Steve's eyes widened.

"Notch's code?"

"You know what it is?" I asked. At that moment, I realized I still had it on me. I felt extremely stupid for keeping it with me. However, I still didn't show him that I had it.

"A code controls a god's source of power. Destroy the code, destroy the power. Keep the code, and there's a way to harness the power. If Herobrine got a hold of it..." He shuddered. "We would all be doomed."

"Why keep it with Damen's family?" It pained me to mention him again.

"Notch had a lot of friends..." Steve mused. "But he only has a few that he would trust with something more important than his life. I'm not recalling any family that he could've given it to, but I suppose you can ask him when you get back to him. Now, let's get back to the story."

We finally finished it off with the secret underground tunnels, and our decision to continue the journey above the ground.

"Then we stumbled upon the swamp, and saw your house." I finished. "And that's about it."

Steve whistled. "You all have been through a lot. Things really have gotten bad."

"And now," Skye said, "we're hoping you could give us some answers and help with your story."

"Well, there's a lot. Where should I start?"

"Why did you come out here?" Abby leaned against a table.

"I needed to get out of the way." Steve sneered. "Notch and Herobrine always ran the show. After all, they had all the powers."

"Wait." I stopped him. "You don't have any powers?"

"The only thing I can do is not age. Don't have flight, can't create objects, unable to throw fireballs, nothing. You also may wonder why I look so much like Herobrine. I'm basically the paper jam of him." He laughed bitterly. "Yep, last for birth, last for everything else. I spent most of my life staying clear of them. I was the quiet kid in the corner. However, on my off time, I was basically the warrior of the family. To make up for my lack of power, I made up for in strength. Notch is the peacemaker, Herobrine is the strategic troublemaker, I'm the quiet muscle."

He paused to see our reaction. I pitied him, but said nothing. After a few seconds, he continued. "They always fought about everything. From toys, to girls, to actual political arguments. When Notch became a leader and created the council of Notch City, Herobrine got jealous." Steve bit his lip. "But that's a story for another time. Anyway, that fight was the final straw. I left. It wasn't a grand announcement, I just wrote a letter to the both of them. And then I went on my own adventure, just me and Salem." He smiled at his pet spider. "The two of us found this swamp. Usually I wouldn't settle down in a place like this, but it was far away, hardly anyone goes into swamps, and Salem really enjoyed it. So I made my home. All the potions are just a way for my pacifist self to enjoy the quiet life. I came up with so many new recipes." He gestured to the bookshelves. "Half of these are mine."

"So you were the lesser known warrior brother that moved away and became a potion loving pacifist." Jake summed up everything.

Steve frowned. "Well it doesn't sound as interesting when you put it like that. But yes, that's really it." He stood up and looked at the clock on his wall. "Oh. It's getting to be dinner time." He clasped his hands together. "Who wants mushroom soup?"

~<>~

It was good mushroom soup.

We had it with bread that we had brought. Steve was ecstatic about it, since all he ate was mushroom stew and the occasional meat. After all this time, he didn't bother making a farm. My guess was the swamp atmosphere was not good for farming.

"So," Steve said in between bites, "you guys are going back to my brother, eh?"

I nodded. "We have to regroup to strategize. I have a feeling there are going to be plenty of more battles."

He grunted. "You're gonna need all the help you can get. Herobrine... he was always a clever one."

"Are you offering to come with us?" Abby asked hopefully.

"No way. Not going to deal with any of that."

"Any of that?" Jake repeated. "Dude, if Herobrine takes over, do you think he's going to leave you alone? Leave anyone alone? He'll scavenge this world in search of anybody and everybody to make into his slaves and/or worshippers."

"I may or may not have an underground bunker in the area that I can use."

"I doubt that'll help." Mastermind muttered.

"Plus," Gordon added, "if you help us, you can go back to your life as it is. No more disruptions. No one will ever know about this home, and won't disturb you and your..." He trailed off as he stared at the now awake spider in the corner munching on a piece of rotten flesh. "Friend."

Steve didn't seem interested at first, but after what Gordon said, he thought about it. "I haven't seen action in a long time. Haven't held a sword in a long time."

"We got plenty of warriors that can help get you back into the groove." Skye offered. "Like me."

"Did you just say 'groove'?" Jona looked at him.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" Steve asked. He seemed very hesitant.

"What's to be afraid of?" I asked. "You have immortality."

He looked down at his cold soup.

I felt worried. "Right?"

"I... Ever since... Ever since you woke up. My, my immortality weakened. I used to be almost immune to pain, unless it's something as dangerous as a sword to the heart. But now I feel it like a normal person."

I was confused. "Why would my awakening make you less powerful?"

He tilted his head at me. "Because it's... Wait." He waved his hands as if he was telling us to stop. "Wait. Have you not heard the prophecy?"

I sighed, knowing this was going to be another moment where I look like an idiot. "No, not really. But I will someday. Maybe."

"Why not now?" Steve asked.

I blinked. "Come again?"

"I have the prophecy here."

That really shook me up. I looked around at everyone. They were either looking at the ground, the walls, the ceiling, the ravenous spider tearing apart rotten flesh. Everywhere but Steve and I. At first I thought they'd try to stop Steve, but they seemed to want to shrink away.

"And you could actually tell me what it is?" I whispered.

"Even better. I'll give it to you." He got up, and walked over to a group of chests in the corner. As he trifled through them, he said, "I'm not like my brothers. All mysterious and crap. Nah, I just get right into things."

He pulled out a rolled up piece of yellowed paper. It was torn at the edges, and looked very fragile.

"Here you go." He gave it to me.

I held the paper gingerly in my hand. This was it. This was the moment I was waiting for ever since I heard about  the prophecy. Everyone talked about it. Everyone possibly knew it. Except me; the person that the prophecy is about. And now, I was finally going to read it. I was finally going to see my fate.

I opened the scroll carefully and slowly, and with a shaky breath, I read my destiny.

"A... A child of the chosen two,
one who will make the war accrue,
shall face the odds and change the war,
and do what has not been done before.
Beware, for a chance may occur.
Wherever they stand, the weight will transfer.
The ultimate sacrifice must be made
by the victim who in time will be betrayed.
Bonds will be broken, and knots will be untied.
Minecraft will change forever, whatever they decide."

My words hung in the air. As soon as I finished, I dropped the scroll and covered my face with my hands. "Oh no..."

I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard Jake say, "Kat?"

I looked up at him. "Did you know about this? About the prophecy? About me being... being the child of one of them?"

He swallowed. "All... we knew was that you were a child of one of them. We didn't know the full prophecy."

I looked around at the rest of them. They were either shocked, or had solemn faces.

I turned back to Steve, who was indifferent. "Do you know?"

He knew what I was talking about. He nodded.

"Please tell me." I pleaded. "I have to know who my father is. Who my family is."

Steve rubbed the right side of his forehead. He hesitated for a few more seconds. Finally, he took a shallow breath.

"It's Notch. Notch is your father."

~<>~

:000009000000000000

Wait there's a nine there. Sigh I'm t9o lazy to fix it.

👉( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)👉

We finally found out what the prophecy is. Was it as good as you guys hoped? Because I did it at like the beginning of this book tbh.

Anywho.

Notch is Kat's father :00000

Tbh Herobrine would've been more dramatic, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it would totally screw up the whole series. Too late to go back now.

So who is Kat's mom? Why did Notch never tell her? Why did her friends never tell her? How come they only know the beginning of the prophecy? What does the prophecy mean?

Question: comment down any and every theory you have.

Rock on, my little rebels.