[Aria POV: 15 minutes ago]

"Alright. Looks like the wound should be fully healed. How do you feel?" I lower my hands from Herobrine's side as he starts to sit up. He lets out a single grunt before releasing a sigh of relief. "Better. Thank you." I nod my head and stand. I wanted to say a sarcastic remark, but now wasn't the time. I could feel his mind racing, and adding to it, even as a joke, would be the wrong move right now. 

Herobrine shifts his legs off the bed, and I quickly move in front of him. "Hold on, bub. You just finished the outward recovery. That doesn't mean you're back on your feet yet." That earns me a glare. I try to return it, but I know he won't give in. It's the reason we get along so well. With a huff, I offer my hand to him. He gives a smirk, and I simply shake my head. He takes my hand, and I feel a sudden jolt.

Both of our eyes go wide, and I feel a shiver run down my spine. 

No, nononono, he can't be here so soon.

I swiftly spin on my heel, my eyes heating up as I examine each cube surrounding us. Every single block was correct, nothing was out of the ordinary. My heart was racing, and I couldn't figure out what was happening.

Alexa and Joseph!

I quickly grab the radio. They haven't checked in with us in a few minutes. "Joseph! Joseph, come in!"

Static only comes through, and I mutter a curse. I try to focus on where Joseph might be, but the coordinates are scrambled, meaning he's teleporting currently. They must have finished mining and were using our nether portal technique to travel faster.

"Don't even think about it, Aria! You'd have to go full Enderman, and that's dangerous with our codes merged, you know that!"

"But if I don't try, they could both die!"

Herobrine growls, but he closes his eyes. I feel power surge through my body. His eyes open again, but they didn't hold the normal glow. 

"Be careful."

I can only nod my thanks, as my ender-half was already beginning to take control. I feel my whole body shift as I grow taller. I can already sense Alexa and Joseph's coordinates forming in my mind's eye-

"They're falling!"

"GO! NOW!"

In a panic, I rush forward, knowing I have to time this just right. I lock on to the coordinates I need, but I have to get this perfect. I launch myself forward and teleport.

The heat pushes the air from my lungs, but I keep my eyes open. I can see Alexa and Joseph in front of me, only a few feet from the lava below. My arm grabs Joseph first, and I turn to keep both of them from the lava. Just as my other arm wraps around Alexa, the pain floods my back. The sensation of my skin melting from radiates an unbearable pain through my whole being. I nearly lose my grip on my friends, but something pulls my consciousness into focus. The coordinates are solid in my mind, and I swiftly teleport once more.

Cool stone cracks against my wounded back, and I lose my grip on both Alexa and Joseph. We tumble across the ground, and I force myself to stop on my side. I can barely hold back the screams of pain forcing themselves from my lips. I have been stabbed, beaten, and even killed, but this pain was something incomparable. I could still feel lava clinging to the skin that remained on my spine, melting it until nothing remains. This couldn't get any-

Severe, sharp, stabbing pain now radiates from the same area as cool water crashes against my back. The scream I release cracks my own eardrums. I can barely breathe from the pain at this point, each movement only making the pain worse. I can hear Joseph speaking, but I couldn't focus. I try to settle my breathing and focus on healing, use the extra power Herobrine gave to me to repair the burns. Sounds are beginning to form and become coherent.

"Come on Alexa, stay awake!"

"Did she drink the potion-"

"Yes! All of it! But she's still not waking up!"

"She needs another-"

"We don't have one ready! That was the last!"

Taking a deep breath, I struggle to push myself off the ground. I can feel eyes meet my back. Speaking is difficult, but I had to tell them.

"⌿⎍⍀⌿⌰⟒ ⌿⍜⏁⟟⍜⋏... ⟟⋏ ⏁⊑⟒ ☊⊑⟒⌇⏁..."

I rest on my arm, struggling to breathe again. I can hear Joseph say something, possibly asking what I said. I lift my gaze, meeting his panicked one. Herobrine, holding an empty iron bucket, glances between us and then shakes his head. "No, that's just an experiment. We have no idea what it could do!" I growl, slamming my hand on the stone, cracking it.

"⍙⟒ ⎅⍜⋏'⏁ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⏃ ☊⊑⍜⟟☊⟒! ⌇⊑⟒'⌇ ⎅⊬⟟⋏☌, ⊑⟒⍀⍜."

Herobrine's eyes widen, and he quickly looks at Alexa's avatar again. He finally sees what I was already sensing. Joseph flicks his gaze between us, then shouts. "Whatever it is, do it! Please! I can't- I can't lose her again." I can see the tears barely starting to show in his eyes, and Herobrine sighs. He tosses the bucket and quickly moves to a chest across the room. He quickly removes a purple potion from it, then zaps to Alexa's side, popping open the potion. "Hold her head." He says softly. I watch as Joseph nods and does as he's told. From my vantage point, I can see the purple liquid begin to disappear. Once it is gone, we all sit and wait.

Nothing happens for a moment, and I feel fear swell in my chest. It has to work. She might feel overpowered for a while, but this has to work. It's a mix of instant health, max strength, and max regeneration. It was my attempt at improving the Lucky Potion from the Orespawn mod. We haven't had a chance to test it yet, but it was supposed to help give us an edge in the fight we are currently having.

It has to work.

Silence echoes for a while longer.

I close my eyes, praying for a miracle.

Then Joseph cracks.

"Alexa! Oh my God, you're awake!"

I sigh, feeling the pain kick in again as the relief of Alexa's survival washes over me. I open my eyes to see Joseph cradling Alexa in his arms. Her eyes were cracked, but I could see the power flowing through her code. She was healing. Herobrine releases a sigh, and I push myself up until I'm sitting up straight. I contemplate standing, but white eyes whip towards my position, and I decide that would be a stupid idea since I was at...

One and a half hearts.

Barely.

I suck in a deep breath, a hiss slipping out from the wound that was still very much exposed on my back. Thankfully, the burns seem to have stopped the bleeding for now, but I was still sitting in a small puddle of purple liquid. My vision was slightly starting to blur, but I knew better than to lean back. I needed-

I hear footsteps in front of me. Lifting my head, I see Herobrine standing before me, a bottle with reddish-pink liquid in it. It was rigged like a splash potion, and I sigh.

'Sometimes I am thankful you and I share a mindscape.'

'Didn't need to read your mind to know this was what you needed.'

Hero moves behind me, and I stiffen as I hear the bottle break. The cool liquid runs on my back, but no pain comes from it. I feel a hand move the liquid around near my shoulders. The movement was careful, and gentle. 

'I was able to find the code that causes the potions to hurt your ender half and... fixed it. But it makes it harder to absorb. I'm trying to keep it in place.'

I only nod, shuddering under the coolness of the potion and Herobrine's gentle touch. He was carefully rubbing the potion over the most injured areas, but there was barely any pain. I start to wonder how he would know how to do this-

'He... did the same for me.'

'The redstone incident?'

Silence greats me, but I know immediately I was correct. It was a painful memory that we now both share. It was back when Herobrine was helping Notch create this world, and he accidentally destroyed an entire village by igniting the unstable redstone. It almost wiped him and his entire code out-

"⍙a⟟t, ⏁h⏃t's it!"

I feel my body start shifting back to my original avatar as my hearts recover. I can hear Herobrine protesting, but I push myself onto my feet and move toward one of our chests on the wall. I open it and find a stack of redstone. I can hear movement behind me. When I turn, I see Alexa on her feet, but still leaning against Joseph. Herobrine was next to them, a confused expression on his face.

"⊑er⍜, whe⋏ y⍜u ign⟟⏁⟒⎅ tha⏁ ⍀edstone back when ⟟t was d⟟scove⍀ed, it almost e⍀ased your whole code, didn't ⟟t?"

I struggle to speak as my vocal cords are still changing back to normal, but thankfully Herobrine can still understand me well enough.

"Yes it did, thanks for that reminder. I don't see how that's rel-"

He stops in his tracks, his eyes wide.

"You're not serious?"

Joseph looks between us, confused, but I see Alexa's eyes light up a bit. "You want to use the original coding for the redstone and erase Notch's code."

Joseph finally has it click in his mind, and he nods. "That could work!"

Herobrine is quick to protest. "It could work in getting us all killed! And I don't mean throw into a portal and wake up back on your Earth, I mean done. Gone. Forever. You can't control it in its original, volatile state." He shakes his head, pacing the room. "There has to be another way." I can feel his anxiety and fear radiating in waves. It fills the room we are in, and I tuck the redstone into my inventory before moving to him.

"Hero."

"No, Aria. I'm not going to entertain this idea. You, of all people, should know how stupid that would be. One wrong slip up in anything and-" He makes an explosive gesture with his hands, and I sigh. "Okay, okay. It will stay as a last resort for now." I can tell that's not what he wanted to hear, but like it or not, it will stay as an option.

"Fine. We should rest. We don't know how long this place will stay off his radar." He flicks his gaze to Joseph and Alexa. "The bugs he planted on you two shattered the minute you both entered this room which means our firewalls are working... for now." I nod, moving towards one of the beds in the corner. I don't know if I'll be able to rest, but even just sitting right now feels like a stolen treasure.

You never know when you'll lose it.