White Siblings [completed]

Chapter 17: Hero

Vivian left with that eerie remark, and Pitch followed suit, but he whispered to us before disappearing, "hang in there, I'll be watching her."With our inner demons gone, Ender and I turned to face the door. "Come in!" I said, and Seto rushed in, looking panicked. It unsettled me to see him so frightened. He saw both of us, and sighed with relief as he breathlessly explained, "thank goodness, you two are alright. Hero, Ender, we need to go. Now."Confused as we were, we still ran after Seto as he sped down the hallway. Twisting and turning, it was an exhausting exercise, but Ender managed to pant out, "Seto-huff, huff-what's going on?" We suddenly all stopped at a large, metal door. Seto flicked a switch that opened it. He explained, "the castle is under siege. Whoever they are, we fear they're looking for you two. Your father is attempting to find them and drive them back now."By the time he finished explaining, we were all in the solid-obsidian room. "Why aren't you fighting, Seto?" Ender asked."I'm here to protect you two, as the princesses are top priority," he answered. "Seto. Who do you think they are?" I asked, not looking up from the floor."We're not sure, there's no evidence yet-" "-but you have to have some idea, right?" I asked.He sighed and replied, "we believe it may be Notch, Steve, and another unidentifiable figure."I nodded in thanks for his truthfulness. I noticed Ender had been pretty quiet, and I saw she was staring at the floor, lost in thought. I walked over to her, and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her in comfort. I said, "don't listen to Vivian. She's a freakin' avocado."She giggled and I explained, "so, you know how everyone has a presence to them?"She looked confused and shook her head. Pitch chimed into the conversation by speaking through me, "you may know them as auras."Ender nodded, understanding now. She said, "yeah, I can see them and see what color they are."I smiled and said, "cool. I can only kinda see the color of a person's aura, but what really comes out clearly is the shape. For example, Pitch's shape is almost resembling a heart, and Nexus is a fish shape." "Who's Nexus?" Ender asked, confused."Oh, right!" I laughed and explained, "that's Corey's inner demon. Anyway, I looked at Vivian, and she's an avocado shape."I heard Pitch snicker in the back of my mind and say, "oh, I'm never letting this one go."Ender smiled, obviously feeling a little better. Then that touching sibling-moment was interrupted by an explosion."What the heck is going on?!" I shouted over the noise. Seto looked to us worriedly, then back towards the source of the sound. A transparent hologram-like image appeared in the room. It was Dad. He ordered Seto, "I've found them all, come to the eastern hall, hurry! Place a protection spell around the panic room!""Right away," he answered as he hastily moved his hands in gesture to place a spell. As soon as he finished, he looked to both of us and firmly said, "stay here."He then disappeared in a cloud of black smoke and orange swirls. We sat there in the silence now, nervous for Seto and Dad. Then, I looked up when I heard something banging against the barrier Seto had placed. Thoughts ran wildly through my head, what? I thought they weren't here!Then, I swear I almost had a heart attack when I heard something shatter. Ender and I cowered in the corner together. She was shaking and I was so pale my skin was probably grey and not black. Then, someone knocked at the door. We were both too scared and shocked to do anything. Whoever it was before knocked harder, and faster, more frantic. They weren't stopping. My breathing was way too fast. The person behind the door had resorted to slamming against it. Finally, to our horror, the door gave in. I almost screamed, but...the figure at the door...was familiar somehow. It looked like a boy maybe our age. He looked our way, and shouted, "you're here! Thank Notch, Hero!" His voice was the giveaway. "Corey?!" I exclaimed.Ender could only stare at him, just as shocked as I was.Corey rushed forwards, helping us up to our feet. He seemed to recognize Ender, and nodded. I knew that was his way of saying he wanted to put what had happened behind them. He pulled us along, still frantic as he said, "c'mon, we gotta go,now!""Wait, what?" Ender asked as we were both running to keep up with Corey dragging us along."Corey, why are you here?" I demanded. He didn't respond to my question but instead answered, "I'll explain later! We can't stop here!" "Corey," I urged, "where are you taking us?""Home, obviously!" he shouted, not slowing down. Ender seemed almost scared at the idea of that, and I dragged my feet across the ground as I gently said, "Corey, stop." He turned to face me, confused. "We're all here for you!" he exclaimed, "I chased after you guys when you started running from whoever that was, but you were taken anyway! I told the gang and we broke in!" I was really quite surprised by what I was seeing, considering Corey usually kept his cool. Yet, now, he was breaking down. "Corey, I don't want to leave-" I started, but Corey cut me off, starting to actually cry,"Why?! Didn't you say you'd always be my friend? A part of my family?""I..." I wanted to reply, but I couldn't answer him.Tears ran down his face as he asked me, "didn't you say you'd never leave me..?"I sighed, and looked at the ground. Corey let go of me, and Ender as well. He asked, "why?"I hugged him and said, "I'm really sorry, Corey. But I can't leave. I found more of my family.""What do you mean? You found your mom?" he asked, still desperately hugging me back, not wanting to let go."No, I found my real dad. And Ender...well, she's my sister." I finally let go, despite Corey's reluctance. Ender nodded to him and added, "yeah, and we didn't meet her, but at least we found out who our mom is." "Oh, really? Who's that?" Corey asked, trying to hide his sadness."Well, we could call the Enderdragon our Grandfather, " I hinted. "The daughter of the Enderdragon," Corey murmured, and let out a long breath of astonishment. "Still, why can't you come back..." Corey asked, still weighed down by grief. He then looked me straight in the eye and stated, "I won't leave without you, Hero. Ender, too, if that's what it takes for you to come with me." I saw his aura was brightly glowing Aqua blue with sheer determination. Before I could even softly smile in reply, Herobrine spoke up, "that, I'm afraid, won't be happening." Corey, Ender, and I all looked over to see Seto and Dad, with all my friends from the Overworld tied up at their feet. Herobrine shook his head at Corey and muttered, "identical twins are a pain," as he raised his hand to magically slam Corey into the wall. I guess he was talking about how my friends were attempting to mislead them by having Corey get me and Ender while Kyle was part of the diversion. I shook my head, snapping back to reality."Dad, no!" I shouted, rushing over to Corey, who laid limply against the wall, almost unconscious. I noticed for the first time that he had burns all over him. He had really hurt himself by breaking that magic barrier."Corey, your burns," I exclaimed, shocked.He looked up, dazed enough it seemed he needed a moment to recognize me. He smiled weakly and said, "worth it..."Ender had been explaining frantically to Herobrine and Seto that the intruders were my friends and that they had only wanted to bring me back to the Overworld. I started to help Corey up, but he was really too beat to stand, so instead, I told him to stay put. I then untied Kyle, Annabelle, and Thomas. Kyle quickly gave his brother a potion of healing. I knew my friends well-they'd never come to the Nether without preparation. Thomas, who was skilled in the art of smooth talking, bowed in respect to Dad and Seto and introduced himself and the others. I started to explain to Dad and Seto into further detail about my friends from the Overworld, and how I had once told Corey we were close enough to be family, but later on we discovered that we really were very distantly related. (Through a few marriages and adoptions, at least. Not really by blood. But we still were somehow related to the Enderdragon.) Herobrine sighed when I finished my story, seeming exhausted" from the day's events. He and Seto exchanged a few words, and finally turned to me and Ender. Seto looked at us and said, using our full names, "Princess HerobrineThe2nd, Princess Enderline...the same applies to both you that the choice is yours. It would be far from easy, but possible that we could still protect you if you returned to the Overworld, however many obstacles would remain, especially in the beginning of this transition, but in the end, you could see your friends regularly. However, if you stayed here, you're guaranteed to be safer, you would be able to continue your training without much struggle, and you'd have each other. If you went back to the Overworld, there's no promises that you'd be together. In fact, it's more likely to not happen for your safety. Alas, the choice is still yours." I already knew Ender would probably want to stay. Hadn't she been cooped up in a castle all her life? ...I take that back, that could still remain true, depending on how weekends work around here in the Nether.I found myself hesitating, trying to choose between family and friends I'd known all my life. I looked back and forth, between Dad, Ender, and Seto, to Corey, Kyle, Thomas, and Annabelle. Corey looked like it was really hurting him to say it, but he admitted, "Hero, I'm selfish, I know, and I do want you to come with us, but knowing you could be put in danger like that... I could say I'd protect you stubbornly, but I know if I couldn't break you out of here, I couldn't possibly stop whatever is maybe even stronger than your family." I smiled, tears starting to form in my eyes. I blinked them away, hugged him, then said, "thank you for understanding. I'm sorry it has to be like this. I wish you could stay." Dad seemed to feel a little bad for throwing my friend at a wall, so he said, "only tonight, they can stay. I can't offer enough space for you all to stay for more than that, I'm afraid."I smiled and thanked him. Kyle joked, "sweet, a sleepover in the Nether...how's that work? Beds here...kinda...explode?"We all laughed a little, but Seto assured my friends the beds here were a different case and weren't made out of wool and wood but of Netherrack and Magma Cream. After settling everything, we all ended up sharing my room for the night. Nobody could really rest, so Annabelle, who was always pretty quiet, asked me to use the sleep charm I had made. I sang the lullaby I had a few nights before for Ender when she had been restless in her room. Soon after, we all fell asleep, but I knew Pitch was wide awake, keeping an eye on Thomas, Kyle, and especially Corey, who Pitch was certain liked me. Nexus was probably also talking with him, and Vivian was probably going to be pulled into the conversation at some point with the single word, "avocado." The thought actually made me smile and drift off to a deep sleep.

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A MESSAGE FROM HEROBRINETHE2ND: So, about the Netherrack and Magma Cream beds-don't try this at home, kids!

YAY WE BOTH UPDATED UNFORTUNATELY, HER PICTURE WONT LOAD :(