Remember how the first three parts were in Drake's POV? Well, this changes now. We get to see someone else. Don't worry, Drake shall be seen again in the future, but for now you must wait.

This is not as action-packed in my opinion, but tis is important. You shall like it, I hope.

Remember what I said last time? "Brace yourselves, epic teeth puns are coming." Let's see if you catch all of them. They are only present in the author's notes. Don't bother to find them in the actual chapter. I'm just filling you in.

So I tried to copy-and-toothpaste the document yesterday from my phone, but it was an idiot and wouldn't let me. *sigh* I don't know why I am rapidly updating this. Maybe I am just excited to have an excuse to look after it. My stories are precious to me, and I love this one a lot. It opened so many doors that I can use as a writer.

-"Shores of Avalon" by Kevin Macleod

-"Lost Frontier" by Kevin Macleod

There we go. Back to two. Don't worry, they are FDA (Federal Dentist Association) approved to listen to while you read. You know I suggest music to get you guys into the feel. Just remember to be on your guard when a really emotional song comes along.

Let's Go On An Adventure

In the Dark

Armen's POV

I excused myself away from the camp and walked in a direction opposite from the way Grayson and Mia were walking. I need time to be alone. I just need to be alone.

I found a little pond about half a mile away and sat down at the edge. The first thing I noticed was my reflection. For so long it had one white eye, but now it was normal again. My mental state, however, was destroyed completely.

I had thought that my sacrifice four years ago had accomplished something, but in reality, it didn't. Herobrine still tried to kill them. Havoc was still wreaked upon the land. Destruction and bloodshed followed Him with every turn. All I did was give Him the means to do it.

I just had to get away from my troubles. Most people would want their friends to comfort them. Well, most people are also not afraid of hurting them. I know that Herobrine is gone, but I can't shake the constant reminder of His existence like the others can.

I can't just leave them. Not yet, anyway. I have to help them with whatever they wanted to do.

I thought by helping Grayson with his plan, I could distract myself from the problem. I don't even know what we're up against, but based on how everyone was acting, it was something big.

Well, I guess the first thing for me to do is figure out what is going on. Drake hinted at it the last time we really talked before I was freed.

I walked back over to where Drake was making small talk with the dude tied up to the oak tree. The conversation was half-hearted, and I could tell that my friend wanted to talk about something completely different.

"Um, hey Drake." Gosh, this is going to be a long and awkward conversation. I can already tell.

"So you're back? Cool." Drake was visibly relieved that he wasn't going to have to deal with the assassin alone any longer than necessary.

"I wish we could talk in private, but..." I gestured at the prisoner.

"You can just leave me here. I'm not going anywhere," he offered.

"No. Sorry, man, but I don't think Grayson would like it if I leave you alone here." Drake's words had an air of finality in them.

"Agreed. So, I have a few questions about what happened while I was gone."

"Fire away, Armen." Drake seemed so cheery. How was I supposed to ask about what was going on without me?

"Well, do you remember when you went into the dream world with me?"

He laughed. "How could I forget? That was the last time I could actually talk to you until we found the Library."

I nervously joined in his laughter. "Yeah, well, do you remember what we talked about?"

He smiled grimly. "Yeah, I remember all right. I'm sorry about Collin."

I stopped. This wasn't where I wanted the conversation to go, but I might be able to spin it to my favor if I played my cards right. "Well, Collin is somewhere better now. I just wished that I could have saved him."

"I do too. I barely remember what it's like to lose someone close to you, but I know someone who would understand what you're going through. You and Grayson both have lost your entire families."

Bingo. "What do you mean?"

He nervously looked over to the assassin who was probably listening intently in on our conversation. "I don't know if I should tell you. It is not quite my story to tell."

"Come on, Drake, I've been in the dark for, what, four years now. I risked my life just to keep you both safe. The least you could do is give me some background information. What are we up against?"

"Well, I suppose that it won't hurt to tell you. You see, Herobrine, as you might have already guessed, was not the only thing following us around. You already know about the dragon egg. Well, Grayson stole it, so now the Empire has been trying to get it back. I don't know the whole story. In fact, I think the only ones who know it are Grayson and him." He pointed to the guy with the penguin hat.

"Well, my facts are strictly prohibited for me to share. I am not telling you anything. This business is between Grayson and myself."

Drake ignored him, and his voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't know quite for sure, but I think that these two have a history, and that assassin has had some sort of hand in Grayson's suffering. A few weeks ago, he attacked Grayson and I."

"Yeah, I already know." It was true. That night, Herobrine's control was very weak. I was able to maintain control for several points of time. I know now that He was focusing on controlling Drake, so His guard was down.

"Thought so. Something about seeing him again set something off in Grayson. I don't know what it was, but whatever it is made Grayson very intent on revenge. As you could probably tell, Grayson has not been as calm as he was when you last talked to him."

"So, that is why he suddenly wants to attack the Empire? For whatever reason, Herobrine never even attempted to destroy it. I think that He had the power too, but, heck, what do I know?"

"Like I said, I don't know the full story. I personally think this is a suicide mission, but it might be good on his mental state if we succeed."

"But why? At least he told you what was going on. I know nothing, Drake, NOTHING!" My fury was not directed at him.

"I didn't even know until he felt like he shouldn't hide it anymore. He only told me on the night that we were attacked. Until then, all I knew what that the Empire was after him and the egg, and that was only after he slipped up and mentioned something about hatching something."

"Wait, he hasn't told you anything? At least he trusted me enough to tell me some things. Yeah, it wasn't much, but it was still significant." The assassin was surprised yet pleased.

Drake tensed up, probably thinking the exact same thing as me. What was Grayson hiding?

"Can we just change the subject, now? We are getting nowhere with this talk," I moaned. Drake nodded in agreement.

We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. What was there left to talk about? I don't want things to get unusually awkward and tense again.

I felt a little tempted to talk about what I learned while I was out of it. I want Collin's memory to be seen in a better light. He was not Herobrine. Herobrine was not Collin.

"Do you think it's safe to say His name now? I mean, He's dead, isn't He? He's not coming back this time." I randomly started thinking about this bit of information.

"I don't see why not. It's not like He can hurt us anymore."

Nevertheless, we glanced around as if expecting to see a pair of white orbs glowing in the distance. After all that happened, I'm having a hard time believing that it's over. Whenever we think that it's done, He comes back. He always comes back.

Drake noticed that something was wrong. "Armen, are you all right? You look a little shaken up."

I felt like lying and saying that I was fine, but I can't do that to him. He was the only person I have left from my childhood. I don't think that part was a lie. I need to be honest with him.

"No, I'm not okay. I'm afraid that Herobrine will come back. In the past, He has always come back, and each time He does, He gets stronger. Every time, His power grows. Herobrine will be back. I'm sure of it."

Drake attempted to reassure me. "It's fine now, Armen. I ended Him myself."

"Did you destroy the diamonds?"

"I...what?"

"The Sacred Diamonds. Are they gone? That is His main power source. Something about them keeps Him alive. That's why He kept coming back."

He stared into my eyes. I was half-expecting that one of them was white again. "Gosh, if I had known, then I would have made it more of a priority to find them. I only know where one is, and that is back at my house."

"Damn, we're so screwed!" I buried my face into my hands.

"Well," Drake said slowly, "I think that for now He is banished from this realm. As long as we keep Him out, we should be fine. After this, we can go find and destroy the three diamonds."

"I guess." Ugh, I wish I knew this before I started blurting out everything that I shouldn't say. I probably just signed my own death warrant.

"Armen, things are fine. You can't get hurt by Him anymore. You don't have to constantly be in fear for your life now."

"It's not my life that I'm worried about," I muttered.

He still heard me. "I know, Armen. You want to keep us alive, but He's gone. He won't come back for a long time. Don't drive yourself insane with worry over nothing."

"So are you calling Him nothing?"

"Well," he stuttered, "Sort of. He can't do anything to us, so Herobrine's not that big of a problem compared to the Empire."

We've went around in a complete circle. I changed the subject to avoid talking about this alleged empire, but we're back at it again.

"You can't underestimate Him, Drake." I was struggling to get us back on topic. "We've beat Him, what, three times now? At least I can only remember three. He kept returning. All I'm saying is that we can't get cocky and expect that He will stay gone."

"I suppose." Now Drake was unsure. Either that, or he was pretending just to make me happy.

He looked me in the eyes and saw that something was still wrong. "Armen, what is it?"

"Collin. His memory has been tarnished because of this Herobrine business. He saved us, Drake, and now he's dead. He's dead because of us."

"What are you talking about, Armen?"

I took a deep breath. I knew he didn't remember. "Remember when we were at the jungle?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, do you remember what happened afterwards?"

He looked troubled. "No, I don't. I remember fighting Him, then everything went black. Then we woke up in Grayson's infirmary."

This was going to be a long and complicated conversation then. "Okay. I'd say brace yourself. You won't like what I'm about to tell you, and don't interrupt me until I'm done, got it?"

"Um, okay?" He looked at Grayson's prisoner who shrugged. I don't care if he listens in. He can't do anything about it.

"All right. Here goes nothing." I sighed. "After we exited the Nether fortress, we came across this old mineshaft. We were trying to find a way out when He attacked me. Then He got you too. He brought us to his main base and tied me up over lava. That's when Herobrine gave you the Choice."

"He told you that either I die and you experience eternal suffering, or the other way around. You chose eternal suffering. Well, that is where Collin gets involved."

"He saved us, Drake. He got control at the last moment just in time to set us free from His trap. Collin locked us in that room we woke up for our own protection. It's because of him that we are even still alive. Now he's dead."

The human side of him went pale like a sheet. "I didn't know. No one told me."

"Yeah, I know. I just want someone else to know so that his sacrifice was not in vain."

I noticed that the man looked oddly curious after this conversation ended and I completed my confession. Weird; I must be imagining things again.

There was no sign that the others were getting back soon, so Drake asked me, "So what do you want to talk about now? You've been gone for four years, so you get to choose the conversation subject."

"All right, but first, you, tied to the tree, what's your name? I don't think that you want me to call you The Guy Tied To The Tree, or TG-4T."

"Does it really matter? I don't care what you call me," he snapped.

"Okay, TG-4T. Huh, that sounds a lot like a name you'd find in Star Wars."

Drake and I both laughed. I expected for TG-4T to be completely lost, but to my surprise, he was laughing too. It was as if... as if he knew what we were talking about, but he can't. Can he?

"Wait," I asked slowly, "do you even know what we are laughing about? From what I know, you guys don't have that much access to things of the past."

He stopped and looked at us curiously. "Of course I do, but did you say the past?"

"Yeah," Drake confirmed. "Why, do you have a problem with that?"

He shook his head quickly. "No, I just- I don't know. The way you say the past makes me wonder... um." He scratched his head against the tree. "I don't know of a better way to ask this. Did you guys come here through a, um, a portal?"

He knows about the portal? I thought it was only Drake, Grayson, and I who went through. "Yeah, we did. Did the exact same thing happen to you, too?"

TG-4T nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. Don't ask me how. One moment I am checking out some old ruins. The next moment, I am being pushed into this portal thingy and come out in a place called-"

"Ironmyre!" I blurted out.

"Exactly. Eventually I go north, find the Empire, find Grayson again, and-"

I cut him off yet again. "Wait, again? So, you guys knew each other?"

Startled, he confirmed, "Um, yeah, we met in the Empire."

"No," Drake contradicted, "You said "again." Did you know Grayson before the portal?"

Knowing that there was no getting out of this, he sighed. "Yeah. We both worked at this oil rig."

I inferred, "Luke. That was one of the names above the doors. Is that your name?"

He nodded. I gave Drake a high five. "Maybe I should be a detective. I just figured some things out for myself."

Drake laughed and shook his head. "No, you'd be horrible at it. I can't see you going around and solving crimes that way. I can kind of see you doing it when it's none of your business, though. You know, like in Scooby Doo."

I shrugged. "True."

"Now that that's done," the newly-dubbed Luke began, "can I ask a question of you both?"

"Um, I think you just did, but go ahead." I waved my hand pompously for him to continue.

He stifled a laugh. "How did you guys meet Grayson? You were definitely not at the base while I worked there."

Drake was the one who answered. "We sorta just woke up there one day. By then, he was the only one left. Grayson let us stay for a couple nights before we escaped through the portal."

"Okay. Next thing. If you guys all went through the portal at the same time, how come only Grayson came to the Empire? Why did you split up?"

I felt myself smile. I looked at Drake, and it looks like he thought the exact same thing. "Well, our facts are strictly prohibited for us to share. I am not telling you anything. This business is between Drake, Grayson, and myself."

I took the words from his own mouth. Frustrated that I used his words from earlier against him, he shut up. Thank goodness.

Then Grayson and Mia came over. They both seemed to be in good spirits because they were laughing about something. Whatever it was that Mia talked about with him, it sure did cheer him up.

His smile faltered when he saw Drake and my questioning gaze. "What?"

There was a way to get information after all. "Grayson," Drake started suddenly, "You have a lot of explaining to do."

Dun dun DUN! The ending is just a bite out of what's coming. If you paid close attention, you might notice some details that will be better explained next chapter, or at least some time in the future. I love forshadowing. I'm having tooth much fun with it.

What to do, what to say? I could go on and on about this, but spoilers, man. Eventually, however, I'll go back and speak. You'll see.

Well, before I go see the Grangers, I just want to say that I am fangful for your support. Stay awesome!

~Lya200~