AyyYyyy sorry bout that long break...here's a nice sized chappie for your trouble.

Had some creativity sapped...buT I'm very proud of this chapter and I hope you likeeee

Vote if you enjoyyyy! (Also @JPGamer22 lol voting helps me get a little higher in the search ranks I think...for more readssss. I'm hoping to reach as many people as possible with meh ideassss :D)

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RECAP

          Steve jumped, badly startled when the demons suddenly gasped, swayed, and fell to his knees, shaking. The young soldier stood, frozen, blue eyes fastened on the immortal's bowed head.

          He stayed down for several minutes, then shuddered, scrabbling up, whirling to face Steve, blank eyes wide. The amount of...emotion Steve saw in the other's face was shocking, and his voice, even more so.

          The demon choked out, "We...w-we need to leave this place. Now!"

          Then the other's hand was on his shoulder, and a cyan light consumed him once more.

          Nearly a thousand miles from where they had just been, Notch suddenly sat up straight in his chair, where he had been sitting, pouring over reports from his military encampments. His breathing increased a little, his heart pounding within him. There...for just a few minutes...

          ...He had felt his brother, in his own territory.

          Crushing sadness, guilt and hope poured over him all at once before he caught himself, walling off the onslaught of emotions, steeling his heart against feeling. His brother was his enemy now...he could not afford to care for him...not any longer.

          Notch stood swiftly, his eyes hardening. His brother had not left those signal-warping mountains for months, what was he doing here...

          ...and most importantly, would he return.

          Notch vanished from his room in a golden flash.

          He was going to get answers, and soon.

END RECAP

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Revealed

          Steve yelped when he appeared again in that dark cave they had gone from. The air was once again thick and heavy, the smell of damp stone and earth had him nauseous all over again, and the very air around him felt like a dark weight against his chest, damp and cool. Oh Notch...not this cave again... At least it was better than that evil place...

          Beside him, he heard heavy breaths, felt a strong hand squeezing his shoulder, saw the flare of white eyes so near his face...too near. He flinched away, feeling, strangely, the demon letting go of him, allowing him to stumble back and bump into a harsh stone pillar. Steve's wide, sapphire eyes fixated on the slumped form of the being, his heart pounding in his chest, anticipating some sort of horrible rage and punishment, for what he knew not.

          However, the demon spoke nothing for a few solid minutes. The only sounds were his deep breaths, the slight scraping of his boot on stone as he shifted every now and then. The blazing white eyes before Steve closed, opened, closed again, looking off somewhere behind the soldier...and Steve could just barely make out his trembling hands winding into fists, much to Steve's discomfort.

          Finally, after what seemed like hours of the heavy, crushing silence, the immortal spoke.

          "I...remember...now..."

          Steve shuddered, unconsciously pressing harder to the pillar. The voice was...a little different...but he didn't know if it was a good difference or a bad... One thing he did know, was that the demon didn't like him speaking. So, he remained silent, kept his teeth clenched and his mouth closed, hoping and praying this was what the being wanted him to do.

          Empty eyes opened again before him, staring, making the young soldier flinch, shivering from the cold and his fear. A hand waved, illuminated by those cursed eyes, and a sudden, flaring brightness caused Steve to gasp sharply, hands flying up to cover his stinging eyes. Warmth suddenly came from before him...strange...but Steve was too nervous to try and look. Silence reigned again, except for...the crackling of a...fire...?

          Steve slowly blinked his eyes open and found before him a small, contained fire licking at the black stones of the cave at the immortal's feet. The warm light illuminated only a little of Steve's vast prison and made the dampness of the cursed stones surrounding the soldier glisten and flicker with the firelight, like little stars. The immortal, however, was still staring at him from the other side of the blaze. Fear again hit the human, was he going to be burned alive??

          "You...w-will not be burned, Steve."

          The demon's voice startled him, and his blue eyes shot up to fasten on white. The demon gestured for him to sit, and Steve hesitantly obeyed, huddling near the fire. The immortal merely watched as the soldier stretched his hands out to the blaze, feeling pleasant heat brush his arms and body. This was...rather nice...though it was eerie how the immortal knew almost exactly what he was thinking...even to the point of making a fire when he felt cold...telling him he wasn't going to be burned...

          "It is indeed strange how distinctly I feel your thoughts...your very emotions now."

          A soft voice, the immortal's, caused him to jump again, but his words made the soldier's eyes shoot up to meet his again, wide and fearful. Oh Notch...he could read minds too??

          The demon was still standing, hands behind his back, though he now seemed to be looking over Steve's head as he spoke again in a voice that held a surprising lack of malice, "No...I have not been able to feel emotions from other humans... I can tell when they are afraid, relaxed, and angered...but I cannot feel why, cannot sense little thought trails running through their mortal heads as I can with you...though feeling your thoughts is a rather recent development."

          White eyes turned to him again, making Steve want to shrink into the ground, "And...I think...I finally understand why."

          Blinking, the man swallowed hard, but not daring to speak as his mind flashed back to the horrid fear his last punishment for speaking had brought him. The immortal flinched a little, surprising Steve. He could feel that...?

          "You may speak...mortal. You will be punished for it no more."

          Shocked, Steve glanced away, unsure about this new development. Where had the demon who had beaten him gone? The one who had broken his body numerous times, who had caused him such fear and made him bleed just for his amusement...

          ...the one who had taken the lives of his friends... What was going on?

          A sigh startled Steve, and his eyes flicked to the being. He was looking away, stance tense, slightly shaking. There was...so much more than the anger Steve had felt in his body now...Steve could almost sense it.

          But...how??

          The immortal suddenly shivered again, and Steve glanced up just in time to see him sway, then land on his knees, hard. The crack echoed softly through the cavern, but the demon didn't flinch. Steve winced a bit, wondering if that had hurt.

          Thoughts and emotions swirled and raged through the being's head, weakening him, then strengthening him. Images and pictured and words were flung through his mind, flashing before him, too fast, fading before he could fully grasp their meaning. Guilt, sadness, anger, hurt, happiness...all of it was a jumble that thickened in his head like sludge, drowning thought and sense...he was suffocating in this...he hadn't felt...emotion...other than anger...in so, so long...

          Not since...that night...

          Steve was watching with wide eyes, wondering what was happening. Could he possibly score a hit on him...then flee? No! No, he could hear thoughts, drown that hope to escape before he saw it...

          "What...i-is happening?"

          The mortal's voice was trembling, frail, but it gave the demon an anchor to drag himself from the memories dredged up by that dark place... He took a shuddering breath, felt the human behind him flinch, and spoke again, though his voice was raspy, tired...full of guilt, "I understand...I remember..."

          He turned, fastening weary, glowing eyes on the human before him, who shrunk a little from his gaze. The demon could feel the fear, the anticipation of pain in every fiber of the mortal.

          And at last...he knew why he could not kill the man when they had first met, "You will most likely deny it...Steve...but I now know...why I could not kill you. I doubt...Notch...had anything to do with it."

          Eyes widening, the soldier hugged himself tighter, huddling near the fire. His mind screamed for answers, and the immortal, still processing everything himself, sighed, "I will tell you...I have no reason to keep it a secret any longer." His breath hitched suddenly, becoming so soft, the mortal barely caught his next words, "How will I ever make this right..."

          "You are not like other humans...mortal."

          The demon sighed heavily, shifting to face the human, sinking lower until he sat, slumped and undignified, on the cold stone floor, "My name is Herobrine Cyenfael...brother of Notch Cyenfael, creator of the First Humans, the Valkyries...and of this world."

          The information hit Steve like a runaway minecart, and his mouth dropped open as his face blanched. What?? How...how was this possible? Wasn't the Second Ruler dead...??

          "I...contrary to the rumors and varying stories the mortals have come up with...no...I am not dead." The immortal's face screwed up in a grimace, fighting another swirling memory, a dark one...

          "Long ago, before you...existed...when the world was yet not fully one thousand years...there was a great uprising of humans who worshiped and followed a demon of destruction. This demon...I once thought a myth...is very real...and it thirsts for darkness, hates life and light. Many said it came from the void, some believed it was sealed in the Nether. Either way, all those evil followers agreed that it loved blood sacrifices...desired death for those in this world...and so, they freely gave it. They would capture innocents and slaughter them...all on secret altars hidden in places they deemed held the demon's influences. They built temples and worshiped and raved for this evil...it made no sense to me. They themselves were beings of life, of light, yet they stooped to darkness and death and said it was better...

          "As these people rose up, I and my brother would attempt to keep them away from the innocent, ordered them to stay far from settlements to worship their dark evil, hoping they would soon come to their senses. However, our hopes were futile, and they only festered in their colonies, growing and growing like a parasite, overrunning the order and beauty my brother and I had established."

          Steve was listening with wide eyes to this tale, his mind struggling to catch up with this incredible reveal. This...demon...was not a demon?

          "Soon, as I was the more warlike of the Rulers, I was instructed by my brother to hunt and kill those now hopelessly beyond the reach of healing, so deep had they fallen into their pit of death and torment. I did so with gladness, angered as I was at these humans slaughtering their fellows..." His voice drifted a little. Steve shifted a bit, saw the immortal flinch, then continue.

          "I...hunted them down...killed them without mercy. I and my Valkyries hunted for months on end, clearing the land, purging the stain this cult had wrought upon it. I...did not heed my brother's caution, did not take rests from my hunt for revenge and clear my mind from the corruptive influence of the evil those mortals had dragged from the dark dimensions...and I have paid for my mistake..."

          His voice suddenly thickened, "Or...rather...others have..."

          "Nearly a year after my brother had issued the order to strike against the cultists...when I was finally ordered to cease in my restless hunting...a change came upon me."

          Completely immersed in the tale, Steve hardly noticed the fire dying, blue eyes focused on the dimly flickering white. He felt...a little understanding begin to dawn. A little...hope...alight in his soul, so buried as it was in hopeless thought.

          "Whether it was a slow change or a drastic one, I know not...I only now realize it was a corruptive darkness that...clung to me after delving so deep into those evil places to flush out those who served the demon. It...wrenched into my thoughts and mind, made me bitter for no reason, though I knew not at the time. It made me question my role...made me...doubt.

            "I began to avoid my brother and the others...became secluded and quick to anger should anyone try to visit me. I poured for hours over scrolls and bits of forbidden writing left behind by the evil ones, restlessly trying to find answers for my doubt...

          "Once, I accidentally allowed my distrust of myself and my role to show through, and my brother saw it. Later, Notch revealed to me our history. He forced me to sit down, to listen to him, and now I am grateful. He told me that before I had existed, he had come awake, formed with a purpose to create, though he knew not why. He was surrounded by a cold darkness, one that wanted to devour him, one that did not want him to disrupt this void with something beautiful.

          "But my brother, stubborn as he was, did not listen. His heart told him to create...and create he did. Mountains and valleys and trees and grass, sun and moon and a blanket of stars to coat the night sky. A whole self-sufficient ecosystem, all his own, and it drove away the evil darkness, and he locked it away in a dimension all its own. Later, I formed, and Notch sensed it and came to me. I too knew my purpose, and he knew as well. I was to help him rule the last step, the last addition to his little paradise, to keep order where chaos may come. I watched as he created the First Humans, gave him helpful tips for their languages, for their survival instincts. Adrenaline was one of my suggestions... My brother alone had the power to create life, and create them, he did.

            "And together, we watched over them, helped them grow and explore, find out new things about their new world. The humans quickly multiplied, building cities and villages and towns, and the careful balance I and my brother maintained, was still solid. The humans worshiped us, called us gods, built temples and a palace for us, which we accepted to appease their wishes, though we tried to show them we were no gods... It was why I had been ordered to kill those cultists; it had been tilting the balance we had fought hard to maintain...

          "My brother had figured I felt guilty for executing those souls claimed for evil...but that assumption was far from the truth..."

          Herobrine's eyes flicked up to catch the soldier's, but Steve barely seemed to notice, eyes drifting away and focusing on a stalagmite, lost in the tale of the history of his world. So, the immortal continued with a heavy voice.

          "Of course, I knew most of the story already...but it did not end the restless bitterness that stung my heart. Many times, the evil mortals I hunted would call me Demon's Vessel, Soulless One...and the darkness that had wrenched into my heart...it clung to this and it festered in my very soul. Soon...I was thoroughly convinced I was, in fact, a vessel of the demon... I am ashamed and bitter at these thoughts now, but then...it seemed to make sense. My mind, twisted by evil, assumed I was meant to be the bringer of balance, of darkness. I thought I had to rid myself of the light...of the influences my brother had given...my mind called them weaknesses and I believed it...

          "Thus...I went to a temple that still stood...one in a jungle, so lost that only those who had been there could hope to find it again. I believe the darkness also led me...tugged at my soul so it could truly make me into its vessel."

          The mortal had stiffened, and he was focused again on the immortal, fingers playing nervously with the hem of his tattered shirt. The temple...the temple in the jungle...

          The being sighed heavily, looking into the warm fire, ordering it to become warmer again, "I...was...told...it seemed, to rid myself of my weaknesses...of my mercy, my ability to feel guilt, pity, love...sadness...happiness..." His voice was thick with suppressed emotions, and the soldier felt his own heart wrench within him, "...every bit of myself was stripped away...hollowed out at that temple... Torn from me...all that remained was anger and a hollow void...a thirst for battle..."

          A tear, glistening from the light of the immortal's eyes, slipped down the being's cheek, and his voice became a mere raspy whisper, "And when it was done...when my very identity was gone, pulled to the ground by a thick, crushing sludge of evil darkness after the disgusting words of a forgotten spell fell from my lips without my consent...I knew nothing else... Nothing else...but anger...a hate for the living..."

          His breath hitched a little, "I w — am.... I am...everything I hated...what I swore to destroy..."

          Shining eyes met with blue, shining with more than just silver light. So much guilt filled them, a haunted and mangled soul drifted behind that gaze...

          "I left behind everything I used to be in that place...sucked out of me and turned into a sludge that reeked of dark spells..."

          The voice drifted as white eyes watched Steve, waited for him to make the connection.

          The mortal's mind was whirling with all this new information, grasping and letting go of theories as quickly as they came...but his mind focused on the being's most recent words as he ceased speaking. Dark sludge...like tar...the stuff the young soldier had woken up in...

          "Don't you see, human? You informed me you had woken up in that place with no memory of who you were, what had happened."

          The awful, silver gaze bored into Steve, straight into his soul as his mind continued to feebly deny it, as fear began to pound through his body.

          "You...are a manifestation of my humanity... I...created you."

          That dark voice was weary, almost hollow, but the words hit Steve right in the gut with an astonishing force.

          Chills broke out over Steve's entire body as his mind connected everything. Doubt, a pleading voice in his head begged that it wasn't true, that he belonged to Notch and not.... not this murderer!

          His head began to shake back and forth slowly as his body began to inch away, "N-no...no you...y-you're lying! This can't be true, I...I-I don't belong to you—!"

          "You ARE me!!" The immortal thundered, on his feet in an instant. Looming over the trembling soldier, he sneered down at him, anger aroused despite himself, "YOU are the remains of every shred of my mercy and emotions... YOU are the weaknesses I stripped from myself under the influence of that dark power. Every bit of your being is NOTHING but MY lost kindness and regret and pity!!"

          The words were spat at Steve with such disgust and ferocity it caused him to freeze up, staring at the immortal with such terror, the being finally relented, leaning back and shutting his eyes, lifting a hand to press against his forehead. A beat of pressing silence passed, then the mortal shivered, his voice soft as he spoke, "Then...th-that's why you...couldn't kill me... Your...self-preservation...it..."

          Opening his eyes again, focusing on the pitiful, shivering man, his own creation, the immortal sighed, "Yes...and ever since then...as I have spent time near you...I feel what little of myself still remains in me...awaken and grow within... I...I no longer have such a crushing desire to end life...and it is confusing me, causing my anger to..." His voice ended in a growl, hands clenching into fists again.

          A whisper of cloth on stone, and the being glanced up sharply, though his scowl lessened as his prisoner...his human, only seemed to be drawing his knees to his narrow chest, hugging them with pale, weakened arms, now very thin from lack of food and proper exercise. The mortal's face was gaunt, eyes lost in the flames as his mind overwhelmed itself with questions and doubts and sorrow...and pleas for it not to be true. The immortal, Herobrine, sighed, "I wish it to be false as well...human... Perhaps even more than you. My...my brother will never forgive me...the worst punishment is owed to me to ease the blood debt I have increased to this staggering amount..."

          The mortal's eyes turned to him, filled with sorrow and hopelessness. Their depths cooled his anger, and he felt a slim reflection, an echo of that sorrow, in his own being. It was like taking a drink of refreshing water after staggering though a desert...any emotion other than his endless hate and anger...he longed for it, though the darkness that still tainted his mind fought it.

           "Then...what is to become of me?" The human's voice was soft, almost timid.

          Herobrine pinched his lips together, glancing towards his dark throne, something he now felt detest for, just as he knew the human did. It was a grim seat indeed, one he had sat upon as he grinned to himself, thinking of all the death and destruction he had brought. With a huff, he looked away from that evil reminder, "I...am not sure. I believe, for now, it is best you rest...I do not wish to have...my only way of healing dying any time soon."

          He felt the mortal, Steve's, mind pulse with fear, then become dulled again with acceptance, "Right..."

          His next question, however, caused Herobrine to halt in place as he turned to bring the mortal food, "Will...I mean...if you were to go...back...do you think you could...take some of my emotions into yourself...like a reversal of what you did?"

          Herobrine blinked, frowned softly as his hand gestured, bringing bread and steak into his grasp, "It...would seem possible to do so..." He did not tell the human his doubts that he could survive such a strain of dark powers on his human mind...Herobrine had to keep the mortal with him, after all. He longed for a cure, now that his old self had ignited again, a dying, flickering spark in a pile of ashes, straining to grow and burn steadily as dark water tried to put it out. This human, Steve...he would be the one to bring kindling, to urge that spark to grow...

          The immortal refused to fall into mindlessness again. He had been given a taste of darkness...he wanted it no more.

          Steve was looking at him curiously, glancing at the food. Absently, Herobrine approached, handing him the food and turning away, "I...imagine you wish to process this, as do I. I will leave you to your thoughts. Remain here, and you will be safe."

          With that, a cyan flash came, causing Steve to wince, and the immortal was gone.

          The soldier stared emptily at the place his captor vanished for a few minutes, seeming to forget about his food. His mind was troubled, thinking of all that had been revealed...it was...so different than what he had heard...what other people had speculated about this immortal...but...it made sense...making Steve feel...torn. The steak, still rather warm, suddenly caught his attention as the heat became too great, causing him to jump, glance down. Oh, right...food...

          As he ate, his mind again wandered to the revelation the being had given him. Steve stared numbly at the floor, feeling sick and hollow. He wasn't even...human. He was some torn-away piece of a crazed immortal who couldn't control his anger, his lust for blood. A missing piece of a puzzle...not even supposed to exist... Not even his mind was his own...

            Of course, he now understood why the d-the immortal behaved like this...but his heart still bled within him at the thought of being linked with the murderer of his friends... It wasn't the Second Ruler's fault...it was some sort of darkness...but Steve's mind still cried out to hate this man, though it wasn't even supposed to be in his nature to hate.

          As he finished, Steve sighed, glancing again to his warm fire. At least...his captor was kinder...than before. As the flames danced before him, warming him merrily with their heat, a slow resolve took hold of Steve's heart. He was the only one who could save this world...he alone held Herobrine's very personality, his joy and hope, his mercy and his forgotten kindness...

          The soldier curled up beside the flames, resting his head on his arm. If he was the only way...he would try his hardest to heal Herobrine, save the humans and Valkyries from destruction. He would mourn his friends, yes...but they would be proud to know he had aided in the peace he hoped would soon come to this battle-torn world.

         No matter the cost...he would bring hope back into Notch's kingdom.

          Steve's eyes closed as he slipped into the blissful darkness of sleep.

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weLL

woW

Amiright!?!?! Here's a fat reveal...I was thinking of making Fallen Honor a little shorter than I planned...I'll need to put more time towards other things, but it will be no less grand I assure you lol (also didn't really proofread uhhhhhhh you're welcome)

Hope you enjoyyed!! (Vote or get squirted with water gun thanks :D)