Living in Me (Sequel to Not Gonna Die)

|Chapter 22| Is it better this way?

          It was dark. It was empty. He was floating, weightless. He wasn't conscious, but he wasn't asleep either, just stuck in this in-between existence. Somewhere, distantly, he felt a sort of numbness but as he tried to reach out to it to feel what it was, it grew stronger and turned to pain that erupted from somewhere inside him so he stopped trying and let the world fade and grow faintly numb again.

          He stayed there, thinking no thoughts, feeling no fear, idly aware of the fact that his head seemed to be lightly tied to his body, the connection thin and wavering as his breath moved in and out of his lungs. There was a small pounding at the back of his head, almost throbbing in time with his heartbeat, but he didn't focus on it, knowing that the pain would grow worse if he tried to open his eyes.

          At some point, he became aware of a sound in the distance, just far enough away for him to be unable to make out the words the voice was saying, but after he idly listened to it for some time, the buzzing that filled his ears cleared slightly and he realised that there were two distinct words being repeatedly called, and that multiple voices were calling them. He was waking up a little more now, seeing faint glimmers of light that shone red behind his eyelids, hearing the voices a little more clearly, and feeling the numbness turn into faint pain. After a little, he could finally understand the words being called.

          "Hero! Hero wake up! Hero answer me!"

          The voice was vaguely familiar and so was the name, but the pain was returning, flaring from every part of his body so he sank back down, slipping back into that unconscious state, but then, just before he could return to the darkness, a second voice called out, closer and louder than the first.

          "Adam, where are you? Adam!"

          That's my name.

          The thought shattered his drowsiness and in an instant, he gasped, eyes flashing open to see dust and darkness, pain filled his limbs and his back and his head but he shoved it aside because he was alive, awake, and his friends were looking for him. He tried to stand up but something held him down and nearly without thinking of it, a flash of magic burst out from him, sending the rubble which trapped him flying away and he shakily rose to his feet, using the surrounding rubble to stabilise him, blinking in the sunlight and squinting as he peered around.

          He heard someone shout his name joyously and saw the slightly blurred figures of Mitch and Ty and others stumbling over to him, but he looked past them to see Steve sprinting over, clearing the bits of rubble that stuck up like teeth, his face creased with worry.

          Suddenly Adam remembered what had happened before he had passed out; the explosions, the dust, the figure running towards him and now he remembered seeing the white flash of Herobrine's eyes as Herobrine had run into him and with a sudden panic, he realised that Herobrine was still buried under the rubble and he spun around, flicking his hands and throwing away the torn pieces of what was the base's roof until he had uncovered the man.

          Herobrine was lying, eyes closed and covered in dust, flecks of blood smeared across his face where he had been hit by the collapse, his arm broken and bruised, blood coating the back of his shirt. He didn't seem to be breathing. Adam quickly knelt beside him, his heart beating rapidly with fear, pressing his hands to Herobrine's neck, feeling for a pulse.

          Nothing.

          Adam checked his wrist. Nothing.

          He tried to sense Herobrine's magical aura.

          It was gone.

          The sound of rocks scraping along rocks drew his attention away from Herobrine and he looked up, his eyes having mostly adjusted to the light levels, to see Mitch and Ty standing at the edge of the slight crater he had made. They were both wearing huge grins, but these slowly faded when they saw his expression and the person he was kneeling beside.

          Other people gathered but Adam barely noticed them because Steve had arrived, slipping into the crater without a pause. Adam shuffled out of the way a little as Steve took his position beside Herobrine's body, feeling for a pulse but his expression said that he already knew what he would find.

          People were silent as they looked on, meaning that the running footsteps stumbling towards them were audible long before the person entered the circle, breaking through the circle as Notch slid down and joined his brothers. The ring of people - Lord, Generals, and recruits alike - looked on in respectful silence for a few minutes until one by one, they dispersed, leaving only Adam, Mitch, Ty, and the two brothers.

          Without speaking, Notch reached out and put his right hand lightly on Herobrine's head, almost like he didn't want to disturb him. He quietly whispered some words and although Adam heard them, he couldn't begin to comprehend the language. It was something he had never heard before, something ancient but with a musical and flowing lint to it. At the words, a sort of transparent silver light coated Herobrine's body, shimmering until he was invisible under the silver, then dissolving into pinpricks of like that disappeared before they hit the ground and Herobrine was gone.

          Steve and Notch didn't move from where they knelt but Adam felt as if he had overstayed his welcome, so he turned and shakily started to climb out of the small crater he had made, Mitch and Ty reaching down hands to help him and they supported him a little as they walked slowly back to the camp the army had set up. Until now, Adam hadn't realised how little he was hurt, considering he had just had a building collapse on him. There was a long cut along his leg and his shoulder hurt like hell itself but what was by far the biggest source of pain was his head, which throbbed with every blink and every step he took.

          The sun was a lot lower in the sky than he remembered it being, barely hovering above the horizon and shining an orange light into the camp that had been set up a little away from the battle ground. Mitch and Ty lead Adam to a medical tent, where his few wounds were looked at and bandaged, and then he was left alone with his two friends.

          "Herobrine must have protected me from the blast," Adam muttered, staring down at his hands, remembering the last moments before he blacked out. "That's why I'm not hurt..."

          "I'm glad you're okay," Mitch said quietly after a moment's silence.

          The flap of the tent opened as Jerome rushed in, gathering with the others around Adam's bed. The four talked quietly in low voices for a few minutes, each silently glad that the others had gone through the battle mostly unhurt, and trying not to think of the fact that their best warrior and sorcerer was dead.

          Night descended and the chatter of the several armies gathered settled and died down as each person thought about turning into their beds for the night. Adam sat cross legged in front of one of the many fires, finishing off the last of his soup and remembering a time long ago when he had been up north at night. He dimly remembered the splitting headache he had had as his previously unstable magic had lashed out (his head was still pounding from earlier) and even before that, when he and Quentin had come all the way up to Lord Rob's territory so long ago-

          "Guys, look!"

          Jerome's voice sliced through Adam's thoughts and he glanced over at the man, then followed his outstretched arm which was pointing towards the night sky. Other soldiers heard his cry and followed his gaze, the low chatter becoming louder as everyone saw the source of interest. Steve and Notch turned as well, but they expressed no surprise at the event, as if they had already known what had happened.

          Anne's constellation had changed since the night before. She was no longer standing tall with a dagger in either hand, staring across the sky in a confident challenge. Instead, the stars had rearranged to form a different shape; two figures, facing each other, one slightly taller than the other, a string of stars connecting the two like arms. The slightly shorter figure had a cascade of stars that fell down like curling hair. The other had two bright pinpricks of light like brilliant white eyes, watching over the back of the other, keeping them safe.

          Everyone was silent as they looked up at Herobrine and Anne, reunited again in the stars, locked in a loving embrace for all of eternity.

And you all thought that Adam was dead.