[Herobrine's POV, 5 days later]

'You know this is a crazy plan, right?'

'You're just jealous you didn't think about it first.'

I can only huff as we make our way through the woods. Aria is grinning. It's most likely just from the thought of finally making a move and having a chance to go home.

Home.

I hesitate in my step. My head looks around the landscape. We teleported to the forest biome close to the village I helped create.

And destroy.

Despite that, this was my original home. If I close my eyes and push past those awful memories, there are times I wish I could relive. Moments in my past that still bring a smile to my face when I recall them. Creating the creeper, tinkering around with the villager coding, making the wolves tamable! That last one has to be one of my favorites. I was the first to successfully tame a wolf and name him Bjorn. My creator being Swedish, it seems like it fit the best at the time. 

Now, I have a new home, one that has opened itself up to me despite all that I have done. Aria has allowed me a second chance, and her friends have now done the same. Not only are they trying to save her, but they are also trying to save me.

Me, the one that killed them all.

Me, the one that started all this so long ago.

Pain floods the back of my head and I stumble forward. I turn and glare at Aria, who returns the look evenly.

"What have I said about those thoughts, Hero?" Her voice is flat and her hands are on her hips. I rub the back of my head and scowl. "If it was easy, I wouldn't think about it." I turn to continue our trek, but a hand grabs my arm. "What is it going to take for you to accept we've forgiven you-"

"I can't accept that!"

I whip around, pulling my arm from her grasp. "I can't accept that after all I have done, the others will just blindly help me like I'm an old friend! Every time I see their faces, every time I see them together I'm reminded that I killed every single one of them! I slaughtered them, and all for what? For revenge? Look where that's gotten us!" I gesture around to the woods surrounding us, the fog that is settling in. I lock eyes with her again, expecting anger, resentment, hurt, or anything like that.

Instead, all I see is comfort. Hope.

"Hero, we've had this conversation so many times since we've been stuck here." She moves closer to me, reaching out and grabbing my hand gently in hers. "I know it's hard to accept, believe me I do, but you have to move past it. Did it happen? Yes. Did it suck? Yes." She stops and looks down, softly rubbing her thumb over the back of my hand. "Does it still haunt me at night? Occasionally." I feel my heart drop. I already know she has nightmares still, but her saying it out loud hammers it home even more. I try to pull my hand away and turn, but her grip tightens and she holds me in place. 

"But I have forgiven you, Hero." She locks eyes with me and gives a half-hearted chuckle. "Heck, I've been living with you for thirty months, I would hope I'd have forgiven you by now." Her gaze softens. "Now it's time to forgive yourself." She grabs my other hand as well and sighs. "No one can do it for you. Trust me, I know."

"How can I? How can I forgive myself?"

"It's not easy. But it is possible."

She gives me a smile, and I can't help but rest my forehead against her own. I close my eyes, trying to stay calm, but the hurt inside is still there. I feel her hand on my chest, and the pain slowly fades. I know I don't have to do this alone, I just hate having to share any more burdens with her. She has enough to deal with as it is.

"Alright, that's enough bonding time." I finally huff. I move away just enough to look into her eyes. They are soft, caring, and kind. There is no resentment or hatred in them. I smile, feeling the warmth from her heart. "Let's get this party started, shall we?" I keep a hand in hers and turn to continue through the woods. We are almost at the village where the split in reality is. Crouching behind an oak tree, I eye the clearing before us. For years, we have avoided this spot. It is always foggy and low light, just enough for mobs to occasionally spawn in. I let go of Aria's hand and grab Entity's blade from my inventory. The cool chain forms around my wrist. I hear her remove her sword from its sheath. We agreed I should keep my pickaxe hidden for now. 

We may need the surprise later.

'It's quiet... too quiet.'

I turn my head slightly, looking over the whole landscape. Nothing in sight except the abandoned village in the background. I feel my heart burn in slight rage at that, but I shake my head. I need to stay focused. I can't let Notch's neglect over our first creation ruin our only chance to get everyone home.

'I don't like it.'

'It's the only chance we have.'

I hear Aria give a slight growl, but she doesn't give back a retort. We decided to wait until the portal was close to closing, giving us the chance to get through with little chance of Notch being able to follow. Once through, we could reopen the End and get everyone safely home.

'Let's go.'

I slowly move forward, keeping myself in a ready position. We need to try and open the rift just enough to send everyone through. Everything has to be timed just right. We make it to the spot, and I feel power send shivers through my body. The rift was definitely here, and definitely still open a bit. However, it will still take immense amounts of power to get it wide enough for everyone.

Aria stands next to me. She flips her sword in her hand. "Well, guess it's time to try." She lifts the blade and slams it forward. It pierces through the fabric of reality right before my eyes. I can see the code splintering, but it wasn't budging yet. I raise my own blade and slam it into the crack as well. I pool a little bit of power into it, but no more. Shock overwhelms me as I see it start to open a bit. I look at Aria, but she subtly shakes her head. She wasn't giving it her all either, but it was opening anyway.

This could still work, but we can't leave yet.

He hasn't arrived yet.

I try to slide my blade backward, forcing the rift wider. It starts easily opening at first, then I feel like I hit a bedrock wall. My blade stops and nothing makes it move. I growl, trying to keep up our facade. 

"I see having your friends here makes you desperate."

Aria is the first to whip around, yanking her sword free from the rift. She raises it, but nothing hits the blade. I turn my head to see Notch standing about ten blocks away, hands behind his back. He's eyeing us both, but his gaze eventually settles on Aria.

I don't like that.

Aria growls, keeping her weapon high. I feel the rift trying to mend itself, and I grunt while holding my blade in place. 

'Make this quick.'

I see her give a slight nod. Aria steps forward. "Let them go, Notch. There's no need to keep them here." Her voice is laced with venom, and I feel her anger. Notch shakes his head with a sigh. "I can't do that. The fact they made it here should explain my reasoning enough." He looks to me for a moment, but quickly turns to lock eyes with Aria. "They will never stop trying to save you. It's a pity, really." He moves his hands to his sides now, and I feel unease rise.

"If only they had better taste in people, they might live to see the light of day again."

Aria is before him before I can stop her. I make an attempt to shout her name, but my movement causes the rift to almost shut completely. I grunt, pulling my blade back as much as possible. We need this plan to work, and that unfortunately relies on me staying here while Aria stalls for time.

Alone.

Against Notch.

I growl. Right now, neither of us held the power to fight him single-handedly, or the power to open this portal fully. 

But we aren't here to fight.

Aria is swift on the attacks. Her slices are close enough to almost hitting him that Notch finally pulls out his own blade. My heart catches in my throat at the similarities it holds to Aria's own blade. They clash against each other, and that's when I see the purple particles in the distance. I focus on them for a moment, then nod. They suddenly vanish. 

'They got the signal! Hurry and-'

Pain floods my entire left shoulder and arm. I hear her scream echo through the landscape. My grip nearly disappears as I turn to see Notch's blade buried deep in Aria's left shoulder. It was slicing down, as if he was trying to cut her arm clean off. It had stopped just inches before completing its goal by colliding with Aria's blade. She was shaking, on her knees and barely holding her sword steady.

"I'll admit, you've gotten stronger." Notch leans in, putting more weight on the sword. "But it wasn't enough."

"Aria!"

I finally yell, gaining Notch's attention. Quickly, I pool half my power into the blade and slash forward. The rift shudders and opens with a crack. I face Notch completely, unable to hide my rage. I need to keep with the plan, but it was becoming harder not to attack. Notch glares at me, but Aria laughs.

"You thought I was fighting you to kill you?"

Notch snaps his head towards her again, but Reginald is behind her. He grabs her gently just as she throws her blade up and removes Notch's sword from her shoulder. I see the particles appear just as they teleport next to me. I smirk, trying to keep up the game. We need this to work.

"You never could see through your own hatred."

Reginald's hand rests on my shoulder and we suddenly teleport just as I see Notch dive towards us.

We appear in our cave home near the entrance. The others are waiting and turn at our arrival. Gasps are heard as Reginald carefully helps Aria lean against the wall. I am already by her side, popping open a bottle of Instant Health and pouring it over the wound.

"What are you doing?! She needs to drink it-"

"Not here. In this world, it works faster if you apply it directly to the wound."

As if on cue, Aria grunts as the wound begins to close before our eyes. I can feel the pain starting to subside, but it will still be there for a while. I turn to Reginald, ignoring the others as they crowd around us.

"Did it work?"

He vanishes for a second, and reappears the next.

"He's through. We need to leave, now."

I turn to Aria, but she was already struggling to get to her feet. Alexa is holding her good side while Joseph is carefully cradling her left to keep her balanced. Andrew and Justin are near, pulling out the weapons from our world. Part of me feels pride that they made it over, but now would be the test of the century.

"Let's go."

Reginald nods and both of us use our abilities to teleport everyone in front of the Rift. Just as we hoped, it was now open twice as big as it was before. Notch must have assumed we skirted through and forced it wide enough to get through himself. Aria moves forward, standing next to me. I feel her hope and fear as she stares into the space we thought we would never see again. I watch her carefully. I had always told her this day would come, and now it finally was here.

We were going home.

I turn to the others, quickly going over the plan again. "Alright. When we arrive, he will most likely do whatever it takes to get us back here. We need to teleport away and-"

"MOVE!"

Her shout is a moment too late. I feel her hands against my arm as she shoves me away. Agony floods my back, but not from any wound I have received. I can see the red splattering before me as something collides against the ground and sends us all flying far from the rift. My body crashes against the ground with enough force to send me rolling. I find my footing and flip over until I'm kneeling on the ground. Everyone is scattered and where we were before stands a very, very enraged Notch. His eyes are narrow and hard. His sword is dripping red. 

My heart drops.

I turn, searching the ground. I could feel her heart rate slowing. She was in pain. I finally spot her quite a ways away, back to me. I can see the gash covering nearly the entire area of her back. I'm suddenly by her side before I can register what is happening. I drop down, carefully rolling her over. Her eyes are barely open, and they flick towards me as she hisses in pain.

'I'm sorry, I didn't see him.'

She hisses again. I can feel the numbness setting in from her bloodloss. I silently curse. Of course this plan was too good to be true. He figured it out faster than we planned and must have turned back before making it to our world. Notch finds where we are and I feel his hatred like daggers in my skin. He lifts a hand behind him, and I watch in horror as the rift shuts and I no longer feel the power from it. I turn my gaze slightly, spotting Mobius on his hands and knees. His wide-eyed gaze tells me everything I need to know.

He closed the portal, permanently.

"Now, let's not make this harder, shall we?"

He twirls his blade, but a hand on my own makes me look down. Aria is watching me carefully, and I feel her heart rate dropping fast. Despite this, her gaze is even, calm almost.

"Aria..."

"End him, Hero."

Her voice shocks me. It was low, cold, and even. Her gaze is narrow. I don't think she will die from her wounds yet. She lifts her hand with her sword and holds it towards me. I look at her, then the blade. With an unsteady hand, I take it. I try to withhold the tears that are threatening to spill.

She was surrendering.

I turn to look around. Joseph is crawling over to Alexa, who was out like a light on the ground. Mobius is now making his way towards us. I can hear Justin, Reginald, and Andrew all behind us somewhere. This was our last chance to go home, and now we were all trapped here. Aria is severely wounded and still recovering from the injury earlier. Most of our shared power is spent.

As Mobius nears us, he slides on his knees to Aria's side. Carefully, I move her from my lap to his and stand. He looks at me, but I ignore him.

"Take care of her, please."

I start to move forward, not waiting for an answer. My gaze is locked on Notch, and I see him smirk.

"Not running away this time?" His eyes flick behind me. "She must be something special."

I feel my chest burn in rage. There are no words to explain this sensation of anger and fury pooling from my being. I reach behind me and remove my pickaxe from my inventory. Energy floods my hand as lightning crashes against it. Notch's eyes widen for a split second before he covers his surprise with a glare. I keep walking towards him as I call Entity's blade back to my other hand.

"You'll regret ever laying a hand on her."

Notch grins, and my blood boils. He lifts a hand before him, and I charge forward. I couldn't let him mess with the world anymore-

A red clad figure appears before him and quickly lifts a blade to block both of my weapons. He pushes back with great force, and I skid against the ground a bit when I land. He lowers his weapons and I growl. Of course he would call back his Entity duplicate.

"You'll have to go through him to get to me, Herobrine. And by the way," I can see Notch move a bit behind this character, but suddenly the red being starts to shake. From the ground up his clothing begins to change. He is suddenly sporting jeans, a cyan shirt with tan skin, brown hair and blue eyes. I can't help my surprise as I stare at an exact replica of what I was originally. Notch slightly leans to the side, looking over his creation's shoulder.

"I gave him some upgrades. Meet Steve, your brother."

I charge. Brother or not, I won't allow him to get in my way.

I won't allow him to harm Aria.

I'll protect everyone.