[Mobius' POV]

"What do you mean they're gone?!" Alexa is before me, her voice laced with anger and malice. Joseph is next to her, and I can tell he's trying to remain calm.

He was failing.

Reginald was boiling over in anger. He wasn't near us right now, but I could hear objects being broken a few rooms down from where we are standing. Before us is a deactivated end portal. All the Eyes of Ender are present, but the portal was not there. I couldn't find the code to activate it again. Before Reginald disappeared to 'blow off steam', he had said he couldn't feel his connection to the End anymore.

It's as if it never existed.

I was staring at screens, trying to figure this out. I was able to get my message through to Iris, along with a potential location of the address after the first activation of the portal. However, I was alerted when multiple teleports happened.

And then Aria's and Herobrine's signals vanished.

"Notch must have gotten them through the portal and to the world it leads to." I slam my hands against the floating keys before me, but nothing was coming up. "I can't trace the signal! Nothing's coming up." My own anger is starting to rise as I finally swipe everything away. I reluctantly raise my eyes to meet Alexa's gaze. 

"They're gone. And we... we can't follow."

Alexa is shaking at this point. I can see she wasn't accepting my words, but I was truly at my wits end. Nothing I was trying was working. The coding that was there before to send them away was completely erased.

"And we can't leave either."

Joseph pushes himself off the wall he was leaning against, and I feel the temperature of the air drop as I realize his words are true. Alexa whirls on him. "What? What do you mean? Why would we anyways-"

"To contact others outside to help, and to track his file down ourself. But now we can't even do that." Joseph gestures to the busted portal as he stands between us. "The End is lost to us, even Reginald said that. Without any way to get to the portal there..." He lets the rest hang in the air. Alexa's eyes are now streaming with tears, but they were not sad tears. 

"We have to figure this out. We can't leave them alone with a crazed maniac in an area where they have nothing but their own stubbornness!" She was pacing now, trying to figure a way out of this situation. I suck in a breath and move towards the portal. I sit down on the edge and let my nanotech run out my arm and cover a single frame. I let a few screens of specific coding pop up, and I try to find anything I can to help.

"Mobius? What are you-"

"I'm doing what I can. You two should try to see if you can still access the steam chat and send S.O.S. messages to everyone. If Iris is able to do what we need, we can make it back. But, until then, we need to be prepared for anything."

Despite my level voice, I couldn't fake the feeling of fear that was growing more and more each moment this reality was sinking in.

Aria and Herobrine are now trapped back in the original Minecraft world, with nothing but her sword and Entity's blade. We had found Herobrine's pickaxe a while ago when we arrived. It was on the ground just in front of the portal. He must have dropped it. It was resting in my inventory for now, so we wouldn't forget it when we make it through.

'If we make it through...'

'Optimism, Mobius! Optimism!'

I hear Alexa and Joseph leave. They were talking to each other after I last spoke, but I wasn't listening. I need to find something, anything, that will reactivate this portal. Even if it opens up only to the End, I had to do something.

I have to do something.

I have to.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Reginald's POV]

I let out another scream of rage as I hurl the last intact chair across the room. It shatters against the wall and crumbles to the ground in pieces. I huff, struggling to maintain this anger. I haven't felt rage like this since Aria first went off the rails against Herobrine. This must be what it felt like for her, completely unhinged and enraged at something she couldn't control.

I can't control this situation.

I can't save her.

I can't feel her.

Our connection had severed so suddenly that I nearly fell into a pool of lava Alexa, Joseph, and I had been mining by. Despite only taking a few minutes to react, the hall to the portal was empty by the time we arrived, save for Herobrine's discarded pickaxe. One of them was unarmed, potentially powerless, and the other I know could handle herself, but I am unsure of what power she may possess in that world, if any at all!

Her life is at stake, and none of us are there to help her.

It's just Herobrine.

Herobrine.

Once again, none of this would be happening if it wasn't for HIM! In rage, I grab the closest object and throw it again. The soul sand lantern shatters against the wall, sending fire and sparks everywhere. Any wood where it lands catches instantly. The room lights up, but I still stand and growl. We are in another mess that deals with our lives because he had to rebel against Notch and take half his power away. Now, Aria's life is on the line because her code and his are mixed. 

They are mixed because of their fight with Entity 303, and Herobrine couldn't defeat him. Aria had to do it.

Entity 303 existed only to bring down Herobrine. He could track him anywhere and follow Herobrine's code relentlessly. 

'Anywhere.'

I feel my heart skip. My eyes blink rapidly at the growing smoke, and I shake my head to snap myself back to reality. The fire was spreading, and I need to put it out. I quickly slap each block that's on fire, and it takes no time to put each out. My hands are a little singed, but everything else is safe.

Minus all the items I destroyed.

Once again, I shake my head. I need to focus and remember. I swiftly exit the room and rush back to the main hall that held the portal. Of course, Mobius is the only one left, and he was pooling all he knew into the portal frame. I could see the screens turning red occasionally, then the avali would shake his head and type something else.

"Mobius!"

"Not now, Reginald. I need to focus."

"I think I know a way to track them!"

That gains his attention. The screens vanish as he suddenly bolts up and turns to face me. Part of his tech stays attached to the frame, but his gaze was on me now. "What?!" I speak quickly. "Remember how Entity 303 could follow Herobrine from world to world relentlessly, and seemingly without issue once he figured out where Herobrine was?" The avali is moving toward me, but nodding nonetheless.

"Yeah, I remember, but I don't know how he did that." He sighs in defeat. "And we can't access his code anymore. He deleted himself, remember?" I slightly curse at myself for forgetting something so obvious, but something pops to mind.

"But, he was a virus, right? Like a trojan?"

Mobius nods his head, but I see the gears turning in that brain of his.

"Yeah. It was most likely how he got himself through firewalls so easily, and could travel through the internet into whatever world possible!" His eyes light up as an idea forms. "I've been thinking of this the wrong way! I've been looking at the big picture instead of the details." The avali turns on his heel and moves back to the portal frames. I'm right next to him the moment he sits and reconnects.

"If I can somehow create a mod file from here and transfer our codes to it-"

"You could have someone send the file to Iris, who then can remotely downloaded it to Notch's computer while he's stuck in-game-"

"And we'll be over there to help them get back here!"

I feel slight hope rise. This was a long shot, and it would take time, but we all had to believe and hope Aria and Herobrine could last on their own. They've both survived worse.

'Please, hang on Aria. We'll be there soon.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Aria's POV]

"Come on, Aria. It's me. You need to breathe! Snap out of it!" I could hear Herobrine's words, but they weren't registering with my mind. My enderhalf was completely out of control. Right after I recovered, I could feel it creeping up in my mind. Without Reginald and other players in this world, it was completely unhinged. It never occurred to me until this moment how much being around other players truly held this primal side in check.

Right now, I was standing before Herobrine, sword in hand and teeth bared. Something was telling me to attack him. Some order was given from someone to attack Herobrine. Attack on sight. Attack. Attack. Attack.

"I... can't..." I stutter, then I lunge forward and try to strike him with my sword. Thankfully, he's quick to move away. We've been at this for hours now, and all hope I had of wearing this half of me out is gone. I can't seem to figure out how to control it, even with Herobrine's help. I can't subdue it at all! The little hold I have left is barely slowing the movements of my body enough to let Herobrine escape without using too much power.

"Don't try to contain it!"

His words rattle my brain, but I can't understand. If I let it go completely, I'll lose myself.

"No, you won't! They only way to control it is to flow with it!"

I growl and attack again. I've heard that from somewhere. It's like a river. You can't always fight the current, but you can flow with it.

At this point, what other choice do I have?

I release the little control I have and close my eyes. The enderhalf screams in joy and I feel my mind become flooded. Herobrine's voice is but an echo as my mind is consumed with single word phrases.

Attack.

Herobrine.

Enemy.

Fight.

Kill.

Enemy.

Aria.

Wait, but I'm Aria. How am I supposed to attack myself?

Attack?

Fight!

Enemy.

Herobrine.

Aria?

If I attack myself, you'll die as well.

No!

Live!

Attack!

Herobrine!

If we attack Herobrine, we also get hurt. Our code is shared!

Enemy!

Notch is our enemy! Not Herobrine!

I finally find myself standing in my mindscape again when I open my eyes. Before me is an enderman with scars on its - I mean, her - face and arms. I can see those purple eyes boring into my own, but the sensation is familiar. I already know who this is, or at least what she represents.

"You cannot obey the orders Notch is giving you without harming yourself."

Must.

"No, you don't. You are me. And I will not let you hurt us, or anyone else."

Control.

"I am in control. This is my mind. And I will not let someone treat it as their 'play thing' again."

She grows silent this time, but I could feel her trying to figure out what to say. She wasn't exactly a person, but the representation of the code that was an enderman from my skin. It was a mob that most likely held code Notch could control.

But I created her. Not him.

"You are not his creation. He cannot control you."

The enderman snaps her head towards me, her eyes wide.

Must!

"No. I wrote your backstory, your history, your origin. Not Notch, not anyone else."

Mob.

"Based on one, yes. But you are not just a mob. Otherwise, would we be talking like this?"

Choice?

"Yes! You have a choice!"

This time, she grows silent. I can feel her working through this, but I already guessed the outcome. Her head nods, and the landscape suddenly vanishes. When I blink, my eyes are struggling to open. Warm arms hold my head again, and I gaze up into Herobrine's bright eyes.

"Welcome back."

I offer a grunt. "How long was I out?"

The man shrugs, leaning back and closing his eyes. "About a day? I lost count of the hours."

As much as I want that to shock me, I can only sigh and close my eyes again. "We're safe, then?"

I feel him nod.

'Then I can spend a few more hours resting.'