Oh, cheese. Things are about to get interesting. What, did I just say, "Oh, cheese?" I've never used that phrase before. Never. Well, um...

Do you know what's weird? This one-shot when I posted it 900 thousand years ago marked the beginning of several things that I continue to use today. Yes, I know that I technically posted my first curse word in Temptations, but in reality, I had already started using them for this. I was already accustomed to breaking the feels, but I did start something else, which you shall see in another minute or so.

-"Triumph" by Capo Productions Music

-"Redemption" by Capo Productions Music

-"Time" by Capo Productions Music

So I took a teensy break from Kevin Macleod (even though his stuff is awesome). Now I'm going to have "Triumph" stuck in my head for all eternity. It nearly always seems to be (well, it is second to "Lord of the Land," but still).

Anything else, Lya200? Anything at all? Can't think of anything.

Let's Go On An Adventure

Fantasies

Mia's POV

I dragged him off away from the others rather quickly. If he kept this attitude up, then he might just end up killing the guy. Yeah, I know that he was just another Empire scumbag, but we needed him alive in order to break into the Empire. Otherwise I might have just let Grayson go all psycho on him by turning the other way.

I slammed down my bag once we were far enough away. "We need to have a serious talk, Mister." I meant for it to come out all serious-like and impatient-sounding. Instead, I started laughing in the middle of my sentence.

He cracked a smile. I could tell that it was fake. "What is wrong, Mia? Are you afraid of me?"

I stood up to him. "I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of what you're doing to yourself. What were you thinking back there? Somebody could have gotten hurt."

Grayson laughed at me. "So what? He deserved it. That guy is the reason why my family's dead. If he didn't rat me out in the first place, then they'd still be alive."

"Whoa, calm down, Grayson. Just calm down. Just chill out and take deep breaths. This isn't like you." I put my hand on his shoulder, but he slapped it away.

"Well then you try having the Empire take everything from you. Your honor. Your home. Your family. Your life. Everything that you know. Then come back, and you'd understand how I feel." Grayson stopped talking and was more of yelling.

I kept my cool. "For your information, they took that stuff away from me, too, yet you don't see me whining and threatening to kill someone."

"Well, did you personally know someone who took that away from you?" He crossed his arms and was probably expecting a no. I almost felt bad for bursting his bubble.

"As a matter of fact, I do. He alerted to the Empire of our existence."

Grayson seemed surprised. "Well, who is it, and I'd give him a piece of my mind."

I stayed calm. "He's standing right in front of me. You were leading his armies at the time. You told the Emperor about our position. Yet you don't find me swearing revenge on you."

He gritted his teeth. "Well, I'm sorry. The Emperor blinded me with power."

"The exact same thing can be said for that dude you tied to a tree. There isn't much of a difference between his story and yours. The only difference is that I learned how to forgive."

"Well, Luke doesn't need my forgiveness. He has a wonderful life back in the Empire. He doesn't need me to say that everything is fine about his betrayal. He's got something to go back to."

"Why are you being such a jerk, Grayson? You're usually not like this. What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong sweetheart? Don't you like the real me?"

"Well, the "real you" is a jerk. Where's the Grayson that helped me get my chalice back? Where's the Grayson who is willing to do anything to help his friends? Where's the Grayson that I know and love?"

"What did you say to me?" His voice had gone softer. A mild look of wonder was etched on Grayson's face. Crap. I should have thought about what I was saying before I said it.

"Um, I...I don't know what you're talking about." I stalled for time. Maybe he'd forget what I just said.

He was excited now, but not in an angry way. When he spoke, Grayson's voice was even quieter. "Did you just say that to me? Did I hear you correctly?"

"Well...um...you see...um," I couldn't find the words. All the angry words I had picked out for the talk definitely did not fit anymore. I was at a loss.

"I don't know. It just kind of slipped out. I didn't even think about it that much," I said finally. Come on, Mia, keep your emotions in check. It's not that hard. It's a piece of cake. You shouldn't have a problem.

"Things like that don't just slip out. There is usually meaning behind it." I could not read Grayson's face. There was a mix between anger, sadness, hope, happiness, guilt, curiosity, and wonder. Maybe he was wishing that he could hear something like this all along.

"Well, for me, everything slips out when I least expect it. I can say the oddest things without me really planning them." I tried to hide what I said, but there's no use in trying. Grayson already heard me.

"Well, I know what I heard. Did you mean what you said?"

"Can we just talk about this later? I thought we were grabbing stuff for the attack."

"Right. The raid." Only Grayson didn't seem so interested in that anymore. "Answer my question, Mia. Did you mean that?"

There was no leaving it for later. I avoided looking in his bright green eyes. "Well..." I muttered something unintelligible.

"Go on, spit it out." Only Grayson didn't sound annoyed at me.

"I might...I don't know, Grayson. It's kind of weird. I can't exactly describe it. Why do you care?" I felt myself blushing. No, stop it Mia. Just stay cool. Shake it off.

"Hmm." In an effort to change the conversation, Grayson added, "I wish it wasn't so cold out. Food is kind of hard to come by. Pretty soon we won't have any left."

Now I know that he is avoiding talking about it just because it turned to him. Well, this is going to be exceedingly weird if neither of us are talking.

"Well, how much do we have right now?"

"A few berries, some water, a little bit of meat, and I think Drake might have some stuff, but I'm not positive."

"Maybe we can check that guy's bag. He might have something that we can eat."

"Probably." The venom was back in his tone, but it was mixed with discomfort from the conversation we just escaped. Both of us were going to be thinking about that for a while.

"Why do things have to be awkward between us? Can't we just forget what was said?" I hoped and prayed that he would say yes.

"I could say yes, but that would be a lie, Mia. To tell you the truth, I was kind of hoping that it would be me who admitted it first, but I never had the guts to do it."

"Admit what?"

"You know what I'm talking about. All I'm saying is that things don't have to be awkward, but we don't need to forget what we talked about. Let's be real here. I don't want to forget, and I hope that I could say the same for you."

"What do you mean?" I swear that I caught him smile painfully but truthfully.

"I love you, Mia. It kind of snuck up on me, but I do. Please don't pretend that you said nothing. Just tell me, did you mean it?"

I felt my face glow red with embarrassment and nodded ever so slightly. For all he knew, Grayson could have imagined it. He, of course, understood my answer enough and smiled faintly.

"We should probably get back," I said nervously.

He crossed his arms and smirked. "Without food and supplies? I don't think so. We've got to find something to bring back first, or else Drake and Armen will think that this was a waste of time."

I snickered.

"What, Mia?"

"We didn't leave to grab supplies. Drake and I decided that you needed to be separated from the other guy for a while. We are actually good on supplies for now. While you were looking the other way, Drake checked that bloke's bag. There is enough food to last us about a week if we ration it."

Grayson rolled his eyes. "Smart move. It wasn't necessary, though."

"Not necessary? If you got angry enough, you could have killed him. It was for the best of all of us that we kept you guys apart."

"Relax, Mia. I wouldn't have killed him...yet."

I couldn't help laughing, and Grayson joined in. We were soon in full-blown hysteria. Nothing could stop us, or at least it seemed like that until we caught sight of the odd looks Drake and Armen gave us.

Sensing a disturbance, Grayson questioned, "What?"

Trying his best to sound sincere, Drake replied gravely, "Grayson. You have a lot of explaining to do."

Stuttering, Grayson said, "What do you mean?"

"Come on, dude. We know something's up. I understood why you didn't tell us some things at first, but face it, man. We have a right to know what we're going up against us. It's all been secrets. Don't we deserve to know the truth?"

Fantastic. More drama. Just what our little gang needed. I felt like suggesting that we take another chill break so that Grayson doesn't explode, but then Grayson said the last thing I expected him to say.

"Yeah, you're right, Drake. You all deserve the whole truth. It's time that I give you what you deserve to know."

"We already know some bits and pieces," Armen interrupted. "You know that you won't have to tell us everything, right?"

"I am not sure Armen. I don't think that it will be easy to skip parts. I will have to say the actual story as close to word-for-word as I possibly can."

The blond sat down with his back against a tree. As he began his story, I could already see the bits of his old self coming back. It was breaking through the hardened shell of revenge and hatred that had formed after the deaths of his wife and son. It did wonders on the mental states of those who knew him longer than me. Maybe, for once, Grayson was acting like what I imagined his old self was again.

"I met Luke here back in my modern time. We both worked at this oil rig. Neither of us knew how we got there. Pretty soon, Luke and the others disappeared. I was alone for three years until Drake and Armen woke up the same way I did. Initially I was suspicious of their intentions, but I soon discovered that they were a lot like me in a way."

"On their third day or so in the Arctic Base, they confronted me about Herobrine. They claimed that they were haunted and that they thought I was too. I never heard anything as absurd sounding as this, but I knew it had to be true."

"We were forced to attempt to escape Him. We kept running as fast as we could until we stumbled upon the portal. I refused to let Drake and Armen in before me in fear of the possible risk of their lives. They must have went in right after me or something, but I ended up waiting another year alone waiting for them."

"The three of us reunited, and we all agreed to try and stop Him. I discovered a book that prophesized how one of us would suffer and the others would feel great pain. It told of how Armen was the one destined to defeat Herobrine." Armen and Drake gave him odd looks at his pronunciation of the name, but I didn't see the problem. I felt like I was missing something important.

"I forged a sword for Armen for his battle. I felt like I was tied to his fate in a way. He ended up sacrificing himself to save us from Him. Herobrine was trying to kill us, and nothing else worked against the demon. It was the only option."

"Soon afterwards, Drake and I split ways. I was left to grieve Armen's sacrifice alone. I knew that it was the only option against Him. Nevertheless, I blamed myself. Armen gave me his helmet moments before he jumped. If I had known, I could have stopped him. I felt like it was my fault that Armen was dead."

"Except He wasn't dead. He was haunting Drake and I at distances. I thought I when I got to the Empire that I lost Him, but He was still there. Even with that plague, I was able to ignore Him just so that I could focus on what I felt was even more important: my new life. I ended up starting a family here, and I thought life would go on as I had dreamed. I ended up becoming the second-in-command. Life was perfect."

Grayson's expression became stony and cold, and I knew what was coming next. I witnessed it myself. The anger and sadness he showed that day made me realize that I had to escape the Imperial Palace.

"Then I blew it. Luke and I discovered the location of the last Dragon's Egg. We figured out that the Empire couldn't get ahold of it. As a result, we worked together to take it. At first, I thought that they knew it was me because they might have seen me. That was a lie."

"Luke, my dear friends, was a traitor to me and my family. In exchange for immunity for him, he revealed to the Empire that I was the one with the Dragon's Egg. As a result, they tracked me to Alduin's Keep, and there they took my family. They gave me the choice of telling them where I hid the egg exchange for my family's release. I refused."

He grimaced. "I felt like I should have accepted, but I knew that I couldn't because the lives of the rest of the world were at stake. They killed my family and sentenced me to be hanged, but I managed to break free. Once again, I was alone."

"I'll spare you guys the details of the agony I experienced. At times life seemed unbearable, and I wouldn't be sure if I wanted to go on. I kept persisting until I couldn't go on anymore. I just wanted it to end. That's when Drake found me."

Drake looked at him wide-eyed. Apparently Grayson didn't even tell him at that point. I guess it was all secrets and lies between them even before they met me.

"After we reunited, we decided to join forces for our quests. He wanted to find a way to save Armen. I wanted hatch my egg. We figured that finding the library would make both tasks easier, and when I think about it, it did."

He bit his lip. Most likely, Grayson was debating a topic. I can sense his discomfort. This next part wasn't going to be very pleasant.

"We made it to the Red Keep just before the attack. We managed to escape, and later on we went back. Drake and I found these tunnels underground. It was an old train station. We barely made it out alive, and we went through the Keep once again to continue on our adventure. It was turning out fine until..."

The former soldier stopped to eye Luke angrily. "Until we were interrupted by this thing. He tried to kill us, and we barely escaped. Drake was gravely injured, so we were forced to stop by this old house. But, of course because of our luck, it wasn't just any old house. It was the same house that apparently Drake used to live in with Armen."

"Later that night, well, Herobrine found a way to control Drake. Using his body, He almost killed me. I just happened to wake up in time to defend myself. Afterwards, he fell very ill and didn't wake up for a week."

"During that week, I had things to do on my own. For instance, I had to get ahold of medicine for him. I frequently scouted out trying to plan our next move. I would only go back to check on Drake to see if he was getting any better. He must have forgotten the events of that night because when he woke up, he didn't even mention it. I only stayed quiet because I knew that it would only distract him."

"Now, you might be thinking that I was wandering around alone. Well, I wasn't. Luke started following me around. It crossed my mind several times to just kill him, but I could never bring myself to do it. He was one of the only people left from the past besides Drake, Armen, and I. If I did it, then my questions would still be left unanswered."

"There was a part of me that blamed Luke still, but there was another part of me that knew that it wasn't his fault. I couldn't remember that he used to work with me until he almost killed Drake. By then, everything was changed, and I still can't figure out if it was for the better or for the worst."

"Drake made it out of his coma after a week, and by which time I started experiencing the horrors of the house. I understood how he felt by being watched all the time. We left rather quickly and made it to the inn. That is where we met Mia."

"After we helped her, she decided to stick with us. Now that there were three of us, I felt like we had a larger chance of making it. We found these catacombs that had this map, and I was able to connect it to the maps back at my house."

"Nothing goes right for us. The Empire attacked us while we were there, and I very reluctantly had to burn the house and grab the Egg. If it was anything else, then I guess I would have been okay, but it put off a magical beacon in a way. We could be easily tracked. Not to mention the darkness of the egg. There were times when it corrupted me in some way or another. I knew that it was dangerous to carry it around like how I did, but I did so anyway."

"Then the airships came. We stole them. I want to say that we made a clean getaway, but truthfully, we continued to be followed. I don't know what it was, but they were able to follow us. To be honest, they could be listening right now."

"We crashed close to the library, and once we were inside, we found the solutions to all of our problems in one book. I was able to hatch the egg and get rid of its evil influence on my heart. We were able to get rid of Herobrine completely from Armen's body, and that pretty much brings us here."

Grayson finished grimly. For a while we spent the time looking around at each other nervously. No one knew what to make of all the hidden information, but we sure didn't know how to take the truth, either.

The stars were twinkling above, so I paid attention to those to distract myself. Grayson's eyes twinkled.

Stop it, Mia. Just don't think about it. "Well, I don't know really how to accept it, but I'm glad nothing is being hidden anymore," I commented.

"I suppose that now you are wondering how this pertains to killing the Emperor?"

"Sure. Why not? You omitted that part quite nicely."

I think he chuckled. "Yeah, well, now I'll tell you. For a while now, I'm sure that he's been tracking my moments. I don't know for sure, but I think he is attempting to find ways to break me. That was why I would stay quiet. I never knew if someone was listening. Well, it seems like he has found the "perfect" method. That's why his reign must come to an end immediately."

Now it made a little sense. Grayson doesn't want to see anyone else get hurt, so he wanted to take the issue head-on. His expression was blank. If there was any mental struggle going on, I didn't know it. I wish that I could hide my feelings that easily.

I uncomfortably shifted. "So I'm guessing tomorrow we've got our plans laid out ahead of us then?"

"I guess. Get some rest. I'll take watch." As usual.

I saw him position himself so that he could take in our surroundings and watch the prisoner. Whatever goes inside that head of his, I do not know. After all, I don't spend my time fantasizing over revenge and all that other good stuff.

Now I'm trying to remember why I decided to include the Gamefactory ship. No one made me. Hold on; it might have been the wedding rings in the behind the scenes. No, wait; I had it written before that episode came out, or did I? Great, now I'm doubting myself. Be right back!

*after five minutes of rereading the old author's notes*

Okay, so apparently I DID have plans for it before episode 12; it was just that the episode made me go a little deeper into it.

Why am I obsessing over this? It's not like they would ever actually do it, would they?

Then I remember that I included other things in this chapter. I made so many references to other one-shots.

For those who plan on seeing Mockingjay Part 2: can you somehow manage to fit me in your purse or pocket or whatever? Only my brother, a few cousins of my mom, and I have read the series in my family. I want to see it to make sure they did not screw up CENSORED 1 and CENSORED 2's deaths. And CENSORED 3 and 4, but I am not as adamant about them other than the fact that they die.

Okay, now I need to lock myself in a room and work on my one-shots. And no, *insert real name here*, I am not talking about working on one-shots you plan on taking a lot of time. If you want to try and update tonight, you need to finish "Only On the Outside."

Thank you, and remember to comment your feedback ;D

~Lya200~