The Broken Flame

The smell of the bread coming from the furnace caught Celina’s attention and she walked to where it was cooking. She took a cloth from her inventory and grabbed onto the loaf, taking it and walking over to Steve. “Here you go, Stevie. Fresh out of the furnace for you.”

The miner carefully took the loaf from her. “Thank you, Celina. I appreciate it.” He smiled as she did, then he took a bite from the loaf, being careful so as not to burn himself. It was very crisp and the apples had been cooked just right. Steve let out a small hum and continued to eat.

Celina smiled and let out a chuckle at his hum, before Herobrine speaking caught her attention.

“If you’re not going to make me do anything, may I leave, human?”

Celina turned on her heels and looked into his white eyes, finding that she really wasn’t intimidated by them anymore. “Herobrine, no, you have to stay here at the castle. Remember what I said last night?”

Herobrine let a small snarl. “You clearly have no need for my help, so why would you enforce that?”

Celina sighed and rolled her eyes. “Because, I don’t want you scaring any of my subjects. They all know the legends, so I don’t think it would be wise to have you out there. Besides, how can I know you won’t just leave and either kill someone out there or kill one of us when we’re not looking?”

Herobrine huffed. The girl was smart, smarter than he thought. It was annoying, but he really had underestimated her. He rolled his white eyes. “Fine.”

Celina frowned a bit. “Hey, don’t give me that attitude. You were the one who tried to hurt Steve. You brought this upon yourself by trying to take my brother’s soul. You did this to yourself.”

Herobrine frowned again and slowly said, “Shut up.”

Celina stuck her tongue out at him.

The Demi-God narrowed his eyes more. “You little brat!”

Celina opened her mouth to respond, but Steve stopped her.

“Celina.”

The queen turned on her heels to look at the miner. He had concern written on his face. “What’s wrong, Steve,” she asked.

He set the loaf of bread on his lap and spoke to his friend. “Celina, don’t test his patience. I’ve seen what he can do when he gets angry. I don’t want you to get hurt because you’re trying to protect me from him. He has one Nether of a temper, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

The queen frowned. Steve was right. This man’s anger had no limits and she had seen that firsthand. She knew she was pushing her luck, but she really wanted Herobrine to see that he had to keep his promise. There was something inside Celina, something that wanted to show him how kind a human could be. Maybe she still could?

Filing that thought away, Celina smiled and nodded to Steve. “Okay. I’ll be careful.” When he nodded, she clasped her hands together. “How about we work on your wounds when you’re done eating? We should probably change those bandages since you’ve had them for a while.”

At the thought of that, Steve’s smile fell into a worried frown. He pursed his lips together. “Are… are we gonna have to use more of that potion?”

Celina’s face fell. “...Unfortunately yes. But I won’t rush you, buddy. Take your time eating and I’ll do it when you’re done.”

“...Okay.” Steve tried to smile again, despite the fear now resting in his heart.

It didn’t take long for Steve to finish his meal and for Celina to get the bandages and potions that she had brewed last night. She looked at the miner as she set one of the potions on the floor. “Okay, Steve, are you good?”

“Y--Yeah.” Steve didn’t mean to sound so scared, but he truly was afraid of that glowing liquid that was at her side. He eyed it with worry and Celina seemed to catch his stare.

“Don’t worry, Stevie, it shouldn’t hurt as much as the first time,” She tried to assure him. Steve nodded and the queen beamed. “Steve, hold out your arm, please. Let’s get the bandages on your left arm first.”

Steve nodded and held out his arm. Celina found the end of the wrappings near his wrist and took a hold, before beginning to pull.

“AHHHHH! OW!” Steve suddenly shouted, making Celina recoil.

“Oh, Jeb, Steve, I’m sorry!” She responded to his cry. “Oh, what did I do?”

“It’s… it’s okay, Celina,” Steve said after he managed to swallow down the need to cry out more. He didn’t mean to frighten her like that. “I… I think the blood is just… drying to--to my bandages.”

“Oh, and it pulled the skin around your wounds when I pulled on it,” the girl concluded. “I’m sorry, Steve, I didn’t mean to hurt you. Let me try again. I’ll try to be more careful.” The queen took a hold of the bandages again and this time, she went slow but used her other hand to help keep Steve’s skin in place while she took off the wrappings. When it was done, Celina reached down and took the bottle into her hand. 

Steve saw the potion in Celina’s hand and found himself beginning to shake. He let out a small gulp as she popped the cork.

Celina saw the fear on Steve’s face and spoke, “Steve, I know this stuff hurts, but it’ll help your wounds a lot. I promise you, it’ll be okay once the anesthetic kicks in, okay?”

The miner nodded. “Celina?”

“Yes?”

“Can I… can I hold your hand again?”

Celina nodded and held out her hand for him to take. He did so, then the queen took the bottle and gently tipped it over, pouring some of the potion into the wound.

“AHHHHHHAAAAAHH!” Steve immediately vocalized his pain as soon as the potion hit the inside of his injury. It burned and felt like his muscles were being torn in half inside of his arm. He could see some of the potion bubbling from his wound and he shut his eyes and bit his lip. He held tightly onto his friend, shaking and trying not to move despite what his body was telling him.

Celina could only stand there and watch her friend as he held onto her hand. She put down the bottle held onto his hand with both of hers. It’s okay, Steve, it’s okay. Just take deep breaths, okay?”

“Ce--Celina,” Steve stuttered out. “Why… why does it have to… to--hurt so much?” Tears were now falling down his cheeks, his whole body trembling.

Celina placed a gentle kiss to his forehead. “I’m sorry, buddy. Just take some breaths, it’ll be over soon. Just keep breathing.”

Herobrine, from his place several blocks behind Celina, watched the way the queen tried to comfort the miner despite his pain. She kept a very cool head despite his cries, and that was something he found interesting. This girl kept herself calm for the sake of someone she considered a brother. “...That’s strange,” he thought. “They share a bond like that of siblings, and yet they share no blood. Her care for him… it’s what drives her. But… not just care for him, but her care for the people in her kingdom.” His eyes moved to the iron golem, who sat nearby and watched. “Even for someone like the lady golem. She cares about so many others, even if she has no familial ties to them. What drives her to protect these people?”

Herobrine would have to keep that thought in mind. For now, he just wanted to observe the humans a bit more.

The anesthetic effects kicked in as Steve let out a shuddering sigh, his body relaxed and he let out a few shaking breaths. 

Celina watched him and asked, “Better?”

“Yes… thank you.”

Celina pulled a roll of bandages from her inventory. “Okay, Steve, let’s get that wrapped…” Then, a thought struck her. She turned to look behind her to see Herobrine still standing by, leaning on one of the support columns of the room. He was just standing there, looking down at his nails with an unamused expression on his face.

A redstone torch went off in her head. Celina called out, “Herobrine?”

The Lord of the Mobs looked up. “What do you want, human?”

Ignoring him not using her name again, Celina answered him with, “Well, I told you that you’re not just going to stand there and do nothing the whole time you’re here.” She made a motion with one finger. “Come here.”

Herobrine stayed still for a few moments, before rolling his white eyes. “Fine.” He made his way over to the queen and stood before her. “What do you want me to do, girl?”

Celina looked up at him with slightly furrowed brows as she took one of his hands. To her surprise, all Herobrine did was raise a brow instead of getting aggressive at her touch. She carefully placed the roll of cyan bandages in her other hand into his palm.

Herobrine tilted his head. “You… want me to hold the bandages?”

“No,” she replied. She gestured to the miner. “You said you would help me, so I want you to wrap that wound on Steve’s arm.”

Herobrine made a small grunt of disgust. “I don’t think so, girl. I’m not some nurse you can just order around.”

Celina sighed and crossed her arms. “Herobrine, you can’t just sit there and do nothing when you made a deal to help me in caring for Steve. Besides, I don’t want you to feel like you’re useless or here for nothing.” She carefully moved out of his way.

The Nether Prince looked down. Why she showed any concern for his feelings was beyond him, but he shouldn’t question it. The sooner he got this done, the sooner the miner would heal and the sooner he could leave. Looking down at the bandages for a second, Herobrine turned his attention to the man who now looked up at him with fear. He made his way to the side of the bed and to Steve’s side. 

Steve was terrified, Herobrine was literally standing right next to him with discontent on his features. He was very afraid the man may pull some trick and just kill him on the spot, but he was too afraid to even move.

Herobrine sighed at the fear on the man’s face. He hadn’t even done anything to him and yet he was cowering in terror. He shook his head. “Steven, hold out your arm,” he grumbled. 

Steve didn’t move. He was so scared.

“Steven.”

Steve gulped and slowly moved his arm out to the being. Herobrine reached a hand out to hold his wrist and the miner swiped his hand away, pulling it back towards his chest.

Herobrine let out a small growl. “Steven, cooperate.”

Steve whimpered. “Sorry,” he apologized before holding out his arm again. Herobrine took a hold of his wrist and Steve tried to pull it away. However, the Demi-God’s grip wasn’t tight, but strong and he couldn’t remove it. 

Herobrine growled again at seeing the miner trying to pull away again. “Steven, hold still so I can wrap your wound.”

Steve didn’t stop and by now he was straining to get out of Herobrine’s grip.

“Steven,” Herobrine said in a dangerous tone of voice. “Hold--still.”

Steve was still pulling and at this point he let out another whimper.

“I said--HOLD STILL, DAMN IT!” Herobrine suddenly tightened his grip on the human’s wrist, nearly crushing in the bones in his hand. 

“AHHHHHHH!” Steve screamed out as he tried to pull away again. “LET GO, LET GO, LET GO!”

“THEN HOLD STILL!” Herobrine shouted back.

“Herobrine, stop!” Celina suddenly grabbed a hold of one of the being’s shoulders. “You need to let Steve go, you’re going to hurt him more!”

“Well maybe he wouldn’t be hurting if he just HELD STILL!” The Demi-God snorted in rage, trying to draw in enough breath to alleviate the heat now building in his veins. 

“Herobrine, you have to understand: Steve is still very afraid of you,” the queen responded in a calm voice. “You nearly beat him to death and he still has a fear of you considering all you’ve done to him. He’s scared. You need to know that and understand it.”

Steve suddenly cried out, “Herobrine, please, I--I’m sorry! Please, let go, it feels like you’re going to snap my wrist in half! Please?!”

The miner was looking up at Herobrine with tears forming in his eyes, teeth clenched as he tried not to scream anymore. He was shaking badly. Something about that look… about those innocent eyes combined with the queen’s words had him letting the man’s wrist go. He only watched as the human cradled his pained arm and whimpered.

Something about his cries… was familiar.

Herobrine shook his head again. Celina, looking up at him spoke. “Alright, let’s try this again, okay?” The being only nodded. “Steve,” she said, turning to the miner. “He won’t hurt you again. I’ll make sure of it. Can you hold out your wrist again, Sweetie?”

Steve was very hesitant, but with Celina’s words in the air, he felt just a tiny bit safer. He slowly moved his hand out with fear on his face. However, Herobrine took a very gentle hold on his wrist, being mindful of his wounds as he placed the end of the wool on his arm. He watched with surprise as Herobrine wrapped his arm and then snapped off the rest of the bandages when he was done. Though a look of slight frustration was on his face the whole time, Herobrine didn’t get angry or tighten his grip. 

When it was done, he handed the bandages back to the human. "There, I did what you asked me to, human,” he muttered at the queen.

Celina let a small smile cross her face. “Thank you, Herobrine. That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

Herobrine took a step forward, before stepping back. “Don’t think this means anything, girl. I’m only here to repay the deal we made.” He then turned his back to the humans and walked a few feet away.

Celina sighed and shook her head. “I swear… his ego is so big, I could probably see it from five biomes away.” She turned to look at Steve. “Steve, sweetie, do you…” She noticed Steve was now staring at the Demi-God, brows raised in surprise. “Steve, are you okay?”

“He… you actually got him to wrap my wound.” Steve looked down at his wrist. Though it was still a little sore from the grip he had earlier, there was no sign of any other kind of damage. He looked up at Celina. “How in the Overworld did you get him to… to not hurt me?”

Celina blinked, before looking over at Herobrine. “I’m not entirely sure, Steve. He made a promise not to hurt you, so I expect him to uphold that promise. He lost and made a deal… so I guess he realized his mistake. I’m not so sure.” She looked down at the miner. “Between you and me… he seems to be conflicted about something. What that something is, I’m not sure of. But whatever it is, he seems to keep thinking about it.” She shook her head. “He’s… confusing, but who knows what’s going on inside his head?”

Celina looked down at Steve. “Well, we might as well get the rest of your bandages changed. Are you okay with him helping me again, Steve?”

The miner nodded. “...Yeah, that’s fine.”

Celina nodded. “Alright then. Brine, please come help.”

Herobrine froze up for a moment at that nickname, before shaking his head and facing the human. “Fine, human. And don’t call me, ‘Brine.’”