[Herobrine's POV]

Her skin is cold and pale. The tan color it once held is gone. Her eyes are open but they are dull, lifeless. As if that wasn't proof enough, her body suddenly starts to glow and pixelate. I pull her in close, squeezing her tightly. I couldn't hear her heartbeat or the comforting voice in my mind. There was nothing. I feel her arms slowly vanish, her legs as well, and then her head until my arms are empty.

She is gone.

Aria is gone.

This pain in my chest is unbearable. I haven't felt this kind of sorrow and grief in a very, very long time.

No, I have never felt this level of loss. This is new. This pain is tangible. I wasn't able to move fast enough to save her. There's an empty hole in my soul that echoes of her presence. I try to call out to her, but all that leaves my mouth is a scream of rage and pain. My chest is heavy, my mind whirling, and my fists are itching it hit something. I can hear Notch speaking, but my rage is blocking out his words. When I lift my gaze, all I see is a target. I can feel my skin burning in anger. He took away the one thing - no, the one person I had finally learned to trust, and lean against.

Love.

I never got to tell her that.

I never told her that I have found myself falling for her. During our time alone, I found myself drawn to her more and more. Could it have been from us being the only 'alive' people here? Possibly. But I knew it was more than just that. Her fighting, her confidence, her caring nature to everything around her, the passion she wielded and her excitement for new things. The way dimples would form when she would smile and how her laugh would sometimes change to a snort. How she carried herself proudly, yet held a humble spirit that would help anything and anyone in need.

How she cared for me. Forgave me.

I never did tell her, and now I never will.

Notch isn't facing me, he's facing the others. Aria's friends.

My friends.

"NOTCH!"

The yell is powerful. I feel the stone beneath my feet quake. The man before me turns his head. His wide eyes tell me everything. I could feel this pain fueling a new power within me. I could see the light I must be emitting illuminating the landscape around us. I stand and summon my pickaxe with one hand. I open the other and feel another tear fall as Aria's sword jumps into my palm. I couldn't feel her within the blade anymore. Yes, there is still power there, but I can no longer feel her. It was only cementing the fact she was gone for good this time.

No second chances.

I will make the most of this one.

"You really cared for her, didn't you?" Notches words ring across the island, and my gazes narrows. The tears are still flooding my face, but my vision is clear. I gesture towards the others. I see Reginald nod solemnly, but I keep my gaze forward.

"You made your last mistake."

Notch turns to face me completely now, sword at the ready. "Killing her?" He asks. He holds a smirk on his face. "That was just a warm up."

"No, that's not it."

His gaze widens, and I am before him in an instant. Aria's sword is raised and my pickaxe is follwoing behind. Entity's blade appears and is above both weapons. Aria's blade strikes his own sword, but my pickaxe drops lower and hits his legs out from under him. As he tries to teleport, Entity's blade slashes behind me in time to slam Notch away and leave a large gash on his chest. 

"Not killing me first was your last mistake!" 

I rush forward, giving him no time to recover. He moves one hand to his chest as he blocks my attacks. I am relentless with each blow. Reginald was trying once more to teleport everyone safely out of here, but it was taking too much time. I don't know how long I have before this adrenaline drops, but I will either kill him here or take him down with me.

I won't let her death be in vain.

No matter the cost.

I slash, stab, punch, duck, kick, whatever I can do to land a hit. A fist at my face, so I drop down to kick his legs out. He jumps over instead and teleports a few blocks away.

But I'm already behind him.

Aria's blade connects with his back, making him stumble forward into the swing of my pickaxe. He gets launched up a few blocks and collides with Entity's blade as I make it slash down against his gut. His impact on the island leaves a crater, but he backflips out of it just as I impale the ground where he was. 

"How!? How do you have this much power? Aria is gone! I killed her and took her piece of the command block. You should be powerless! You should-"

"Shut up."

Notch's eyes widen as he stops speaking abruptly. I am behind him, but he is quicker this time and blocks my attack. I can see him starting to pick up the pace as my attacks show no sign of slowing down. I was able to get a few blows in, but I could tell that was going to become less and less as Notch starts taking this fight seriously. I have no idea if killing him will truly work, or if he will just respawn fresh and new, ready for another long battle.

I don't care.

I want him to hurt.

Notch teleports away, and in rage I shout and launch all three weapons at him. He swats away Entity's blade and Aria's, but my pickaxe slips through and slashes his shoulder open. He stumbles back, and I appear before him with my fist connecting on his face. Another hit to the jaw, then the gut before moving behind him and slamming my knuckles into the back of his head. Notch's sword clatters to the ground as he nearly falls forward. However, he's quick to turn and begin blocking my hands. 

His fist slips through and hits me straight in the nose and another to the gut before I begin blocking properly. I remember something Aria said once when we were sparring months ago, her voice echoing in my mind.

"Always look for an opening even when attacking or blocking. Everyone has a pattern, even if they try to keep their fighting style variable."

I duck beneath a swing and barely jump in time to dodge a kick, then I lift my arms to block a punch. I feel my arms scream in pain from the power behind it, but I keep my gaze steady. Notch throws a punch and I lean right and jab my fist towards his jaw. It connects, but I feel my spine shiver. I recall my pickaxe just in time to catch Notch's sword as he summons it back to the hand he tried to punch me with.

"Don't get cocky, it's how I've beat you before. Stay on your toes." 

I try to pull his blade from his hand, but his grip is strong. Instead, I kick out and connect against his gut. I pull my pickaxe free and spin, slicing against his face. Notch quickly appears about ten blocks away, huffing for air. I suck in a breath, trying to remain strong, but I could feel the weariness starting to set in. Reginald was gone, having disappeared to some other part of the End with the others successfully. If I don't win this battle, then at least they will be able to survive and live some sort of life here.

I won't go down that easily though.

I refuse.

"You know you can't win this, Hero. Why do you keep trying?"

"Don't call me that."

Notch is silent, but he stands up straight. I see the blood soak back into his skin and his wound close up. With the extra piece of the command block he absorbed, I knew this would happen. 

I don't care. This just means I can make him feel that pain all over again. It will never add up to the ache in my heart, but I'll make sure it will get close.

"Don't tell me you loved her."

That makes a growl escape me. Notch looks at me, then he chuckles. The sound makes my blood boil. I stand my ground. I can't attack yet. I am healing my own wounds and can't risk giving in to provocation. I have to wait. Notch looks at me after rubbing his face. "That explains it all now. Risking your life for those other players, throwing everything you have at a battle you could never win." His gaze locks with mine.

"I could bring her back, Herobrine."

My heart skips a beat.

No, no. It's a trick. He's lying.

Right?

"Give me the other piece of the command block, and I can bring her back." I glare at Notch, trying to see if he was truly deceiving me or lying. I never did have the gift like Aria did, but part of me knows this is a bluff. Once he gets his hands on the command block, I will be gone in an instant. Everything we have fought for, bled for-

Died for-

It will be for nothing.

"Then her death would be meaningless."

Notch actually sighs and lifts his blade. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that." Confusion floods my mind, but he is suddenly before me. I raise my pickaxe, ready to block it, but Notch suddenly screams in pain as red splatters my vision and he disappears from view. My mind barely registers the gunshots before realizing what just happened. I turn on my heel to see Joseph standing with his rifle aiming past me and at Notch. 

"You're not supposed to be here! You need to leave!"

"And let you have all the fun?"

I feel mild relief as Alexa appears from behind Joseph, a rifle in her hand as well. She was standing tall, but even I could tell she wasn't running at one hundred percent. Mobius moves into view on the other side of Joseph, canons and blasters ready.

"She was our friend too, Herobrine. Our family. We can't leave."

I hear movement, and I turn to see Notch standing with his hand over his gut. The weapons I designed to be similar to Entity's blade. However, instead of deleting you, it will simply keep you from regenerating yourself or healing your wounds. I knew Notch most likely has some sort of backup or firewall that would register the deletion enchantment useless since he created it himself, but he wouldn't know what to do with something new.

"You will never win this battle! Why don't you understand that?"

"Aria always understood that, but she never gave up." 

Andrew appears on the opposite end of the battlefield with Justin and Reginald in tow. Of course, they wouldn't leave either. Aria is the reason they were able to return to the human world. They owe her their lives. I shake my head, but part of me feels relief. There's now a small, slim, microscopic chance we could win this.

Aria would still fight, and so will I.

For her.

For them.

For us.