Protectors Are For Weaklings (Completed)

Herobrine

The first thing I noticed was the temperature. When it had been cold earlier, it had a warm glow where I was right now. Which didn't make sense. Seriously! If I were still outside, it would be cold as a snow biome. If I were dead... Well, it would be uncomfortably hot.

"I want to tell you something, dear brother."

How he knew I was awake, I had no idea. I realized all the heat was coming from behind me - a fireplace.

When I didn't reply, silence stretched into a plains biome, and then into the void itself. It was long.

"I wanted to change things. I didn't want any fear in anyone... I didn't want anyone to fear me. So I had to set someone up. Finding out that your own brother committed several crimes and then executing him takes courage, and it was something I didn't have. It's me talking here, Herobrine! Not him!"

It clearly was meant to get some reaction out of me, bur I stayed still. I didn't know what he meant by it at all.

"It said to create a revolution, so I did. It said to do this, so I did." He looked up at me, his hat tilted slightly out of place on the top of his head, yet it was barely noticeable. His hair including his beard looked like it hadn't been taken care of in days.

"You didn't have to do any of it," I said softly.

An anger glazed over his eyes, and I couldn't move from the chair I was on. Why did I have to be in a chair?

"Don't you get it? I'm just like you!" He stood up from his own chair, and I tried to stay as still as possible. Instead of splattering me all over the walls like I was expecting him to do, all he did was start to pace.

"A monster," he finally said. "I remember now.

"It said it would stop if I did everything it asked. Even when it suggested to kill my own daughter, I tried to do it. No one should even try, though. I'm sure you know the result."

I was pulling up a blank, and it showed. "Amara. She's my daughter. And I let you have her."

I closed my eyes, feeling dizzy. It hadn't occurred to me before that it could have been one of his own.

"The revolution wasn't enough for him.

"Do or die. That was how it was like when he asked to create it."

As if a lightbulb went off in my head, I saw the room connecting to this one. I could only see the door and some parts of the inside, but all I could tell was that there were a Nether ton of levers inside.

"It was a portal. He wanted to send me off to it, to make things better in a whole new world. But he never told me any of it. What it would he like, and if I even would survive."

"So you decided to send someone else," I concluded.

"Yes," he said. "...Yes."

That isn't all.

He walked into the room I had spotted, and hesitated, as if sputtering. His posture changed altogether, and a scream ripped through the walls. His.

His posture settled on an unsettling straight pose. Confidence radiated throughout him, and I knew the difference immediately.

This was his monster.

I gathered the strength to move, but it was only to stand up. I could just see all of the levers, all flicked one direction: off.

"This... for Astra." A blue lever was flicked. He spoke in a Standard Galactic tongue.

"This... for Tristam." A white lever was turned on.

"And this... for X." A black lever was pulled.

It was a staring contest, between it and I, and I wasn't inclined to lose. This wasn't Markus. This was something that took control of both of us, and I wasn't going to let it go that easily.

"What did you do with my brother!" I screamed at him. With an energy I didn't know I still had, I launched myself at him with a force that would have normally taken out anyone. It simply brushed me off.

More levers were flicked, and I stole a glance at the only blade in the room. It was encased in a glass case, and it looked old, but it had to work.

Before I could teleport to the thing, an invisible force grabbed me and lifted me high into the air, the ceiling slightly brushing my hair.

And then it turned away from me, and I was already forgotten.

A huge white expanse of space filled in the air only mere blocks away from me. It was a white portal, unlike anything I've seen before. I suppose my legs were a little free to move, because they tried to be sucked in along with the other things that were already sucked in. For example, the old sword, and various papers that were stuck on the desk behind me.

His hat was one of the first parts of him to go into the portal. Right when it disappeared into the swirls, though, it seemed the real Markus regained his control.

His scream was pitiful against the roar the portal made. He tried to grasp onto an already flicked lever, but it only broke from the pressure. His short hair was a mess.

I suppose the invisible force keeping me floating broke as well. I fell to the ground, and immediately started the descent to the swirling portal.

A strong arm grabbed me.

"This... Is me," Markus sputtered, barely loud enough to be heard. "But... I can't stay for long. I can feel him fighting back. ...I want you to take care of her."

Together, we slowly made progress to the dark oak table, and it was virtually the only thing that was heavy enough to stay behind. Already, I could feel his strength changing as it started to take control again.

"Goodbye, brother." Just as soon as he said that, it took over, let go of me, and tumbled into the hissing portal.

That was my monster, so now I was free. But that was also my brother.

The portal closed up.