Beware the darkness

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Steve had been feeling depressed all day. He didn't want to do anything. He felt apathy, fatigue, and fear. He was scared of literally any rustle because he thought that the monsters he had seen before were hiding somewhere. Paranoia, in short. Surprisingly, the intense hunger disappeared. Now Steve could only eat once and not want to eat again until the evening. Caves and other places did not cause him any sympathy or desire to stay in them. On the contrary, there was rejection. And the guy didn't want to sit around the campfire in the evening or go to the cave. It was difficult to get him out even for a walk. On the evening of the first day after getting rid of the darkness, Steve began to feel very weak and sluggish, so he decided to go to bed. Just as he was getting ready for bed, Herobrine returned. Along with his arrival, the cold night wind entered with him, which hit Steve's legs. The white-eyed man immediately saw that his friend looked sluggish.

— Are you tired?  — He inclined his head slightly.

— Huh? — the guy looked at him, after which he felt even more weak for a moment, because of the all-consuming light of his white eyes, — Yes, a little. I think I'll go to bed,— he sat down on the bed, and Herobrin came up to him.

— Wait a minute. I have a better idea, — He sat down next to Steve,  — still looking at you.

— What are you talking about?

— We have banished the darkness from you, but we have not eliminated the consequences of its presence. Sit down next to me. I'll check your mind.

Steve didn't understand a word of what was said, but still reluctantly sat down between Herobrin's legs. To tell the truth, he really didn't want to do any kind of treatment right now. He wanted to sleep. At one point, Steve felt a slight tingling sensation, as if from a mild electric shock, which began to increase with each passing second, causing more and more pain. The guy tried to put up with it at the beginning, and then grabbed his head and shook it:

— Wait. Stop. That's enough,— he finally felt relieved.

Suddenly, Herobrin took Steve's hands, took them down from his head, and then bent down almost to his ear:

—I'm trying to help you, Steve. I don't need your thoughts, your consciousness, or your memories. All I need is for you to trust me, like you did back then.

—But... it hurts.

— You've been through much more painful moments, — Herobrin released his hands, straightening up, — So pull yourself together and sit still. I'm already very careful with you, — he finished proudly.

Steve was alerted by his intonation, so he did not argue and just did as the white-eyed man asked.

— Relax, — said Herobrin meanwhile, — the less tension in the body, the easier it is to bear. Try not to think about anything.

The guy did just that. His temples began to tingle again, but there was no pain anymore. Or if it was, it was weak, and it passed quickly. Was it even... pleasant? Steve felt a faint tingling creep deeper and deeper into his mind with every passing second, clearly searching for something. And at this time, from the hands of Herobrin, located near the temples of the guy, there was not a bright transparent white light, similar to a half-blurred line. He moved as carefully as possible into his friend's mind, trying not to harm him. At one point, Steve, who had already dozed off, was suddenly pierced by severe pain, from which he again clutched his head and moved away from Herobrine, turning towards him.

— Ugh! It's very painful. What for?

— It looks like I finally found what I was looking for. Come here before I lose the trail.

— No, — the guy shook his head, still holding on to it because of the constant pain, - first tell me what you were looking for and what kind of pain it is. Which, by the way, does not stop and does not decrease.

Herobrin sighed and shook his head. To be honest, he really didn't want to explain anything right now, but then Steve would definitely resist even more and would only waste his time and energy.

— When the darkness comes out of you, it does not leave your mind without injury. In fact, it is like a wound on the body, without treatment it will turn into a scar, and health will decrease for a while. At the moment, this very wound is very fresh. And of course it hurts you a lot when I touch her. However, it's in your best interest if I start treating her as soon as possible.

— You have no idea how much it hurts. It feels like a red-hot sword has been applied to your wound and is being held and held, only pressing harder. This is... this is unbearable pain!  Steve squeezed his eyes shut from the constant pain.

— You're hurting yourself. Just calm down and come here. I'll calm it down, — Herobrin raised his hands, preparing to influence the guy again.

He did not want this at first, but then realized that there was no point in resisting. The pain was terrible and felt like it was growing. He moved closer to the white-eyed man again and tried to relax. It took a while, but it worked, and along with the relaxation, the pain went away.

— I'll be careful, — Herobrin spoke half-softly, — The main thing is to sit still and in no case strain yourself.

Pain shot into Steve's head again, causing his eye to twitch. However, this time he did not move, except that he involuntarily clenched his fists. This pain shot stronger and weaker over and over again. It seemed to the guy as if someone was treating his fresh wound, carefully touching the edges with red-hot metal. And so it went on for about twenty minutes. By the end of this procedure, Steve almost did not react to this pain, and it felt dull, and his gaze became indifferent.

—We're done for today,—Herobrin said suddenly, lowering his arms, —Now go to bed.

The guy barely got up, almost falling (Herobrin caught him and moved him to the bed), and then sat down on the bed, putting his hand to his forehead. His head ached terribly with a nagging pain. And, of course, it is almost impossible to fall asleep. As a bonus, Steve was rocking from side to side from the high pressure, but he still fell headfirst onto the pillow and, surprisingly, fell fast asleep. Herobrin watched him exactly until he fell asleep, after which he also lay down on his bed, putting his hands behind his head. He involuntarily recalled the events of the past and this day, realizing that everything was going exactly as expected, as planned: "So I correctly identified many aspects of darkness. Now we need to strengthen his consciousness until he can fight the glow of my eyes. Then you can move on to the next step. Although... is it worth it?"

Steve woke up in the morning surprisingly cheerful and rested: "It's kind of weird. I had such a headache yesterday. And what about yesterday... oh, right. Treatment,— he stretched, —Uh, we should get to work."It was beautiful weather outside. The sky was covered with white clouds, which, however, did not prevent the rays of the sun from passing freely, and the temperature was very comfortable. Steve tried to determine what time it was and for some reason it seemed to him that it was daytime. The middle of the day. And while he was looking at the sky, Herobrine appeared next to him. He came a little closer and also looked inside.

— Where are we looking?

— Oh, hello. Yes, I'm looking at the sky. I'm wondering what time it is now.

— You slept until noon.

— Noon?  Steve was surprised.…

He had never slept for so long. I was always an early riser and woke up at dawn.

—That's okay,— Herobrin reassured him,— your mind needed a rest. How are you feeling?

— Cheerful. What's amazing, —Steve looked at his hands, and then back at his friend, —Is this really normal?

— I can't say for sure here, — the white—eyed man shrugged, - You are ... hmm ... my first "patient".

Steve grinned. Well, it's time to start his daily routine, even though he woke up quite late. Now it was much calmer and brighter inside than before. So there's nothing to worry about anymore, right?