The Broken Flame

Celina watched from her throne as Herobrine slept soundly. He had cried for what felt like hours, though it had probably only been an hour or so. He had slowly stopped his cries and gone from loud sobbing and hiccupping, to soft whimpers, to the faintest little sniffles. Eventually, his body had caused him to curl up and fall asleep right there on the rug. Celina had wanted to go and get him to take him to a bed, but she was almost afraid he might hurt himself or her if she got near him. The queen knew how strong he was and didn’t want either of them to get hurt.

So there was Herobrine, sleeping on his side with an arm under his head. He seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully despite the distress he had been in only an hour ago.

Celina looked down at Herobrine from her throne. She had sat there the whole time Herobrine had cried, and honestly? It broke her heart to a level she couldn’t even describe. She had only sat there, trying to give him his space but still wanting to make sure he wouldn’t hurt himself or anyone else. And now he was asleep and she had time to think. 

A deep sigh escaped Celina’s lips. “What have I done,” she spoke, having not done so since Herobrine had started his crying. She put a hand to her forehead. “I shouldn’t have yelled at him like that. I should have tried actually talking with him and not just insulting him for what he did.” She rubbed her aching cranium. “I mean, I tried to, but he just… didn’t want to listen. But… maybe if I was more calm, he would’ve listened to me. I shouldn’t have just gotten angry at him.”

She looked down at him again. “I don’t know what kind of nerve I struck in him, but I… I shouldn’t have said what I said. What I did… was so… childish.” Celina lightly hit her fist against her armrest, furrowing her brows. She was angry at no one but herself now. “I said things I didn’t mean,” she mused aloud once more. “I should have been more reasonable. I should have just… talked to him.”

The queen closed her eyes and rubbed her head again. She didn’t mean to make him upset, she just was upset herself and wanted him to know how she felt about her trust being broken. She really didn’t even think she could hurt his feelings. But she should have known better. In the time Herobrine had been here, Celina noticed how… meek and how… human… he had become. He acted so mellow, so calm, and she should have known the wrong word would upset him.

Celina looked to Herobrine as he shifted on the floor. Maybe… it was time to mend their broken trust.

She got up from her seat and moved to the floor.

*****

“Herobrine? Can you hear me?”

Herobrine let out a small whine as something touched his shoulder. He wanted to stay asleep a while longer. He was so very tired and so very weak now. Crying for so long had taken a toll on him, especially considering he hadn’t cried so hard in centuries.

However, whatever was connected to this voice insisted on waking him up, so he turned his head, opening his damp eyes.

The human was sitting right next to him.

Herobrine gasped and scrambled to sit up, panic taking him. He began to gasp and sputter and he felt fear rising up in him again.

Celina realized she had frightened the being and she quickly held up her hands. “Herobrine, Herobrine, it’s okay! It’s okay! I’m not gonna hurt you! It’s okay!”

Herobrine froze in his place, pushing himself up with one arm, the other held protectively to his chest. He took rapid breaths, but slowed them when the human didn’t make any sudden movements to hurt him. He slowly moved to sit up with his hands on his lap.

Celina saw him looking back at her with those teary white eyes, and she found herself slowly moving to sit cross-legged in front of him. He flinched when she did this, but relaxed when she made no other movements. The two sat, one across from the other, with a heavy silence hanging between them. Herobrine looked at her with visible sorrow in his puffy eyes and she felt her chest hurt again. She caused this, now she needed to try and fix it.

The queen slowly picked up a hand and waved to him. “Hi,” she spoke in a soft voice.

The Nether Prince looked at her with a confused gaze. She was being gentle when she had been so angry only a while ago. And yet, here she was, smiling softly at him with a hand waving to him. His ears twitched in curiosity. “...Hello,” he answered, his voice somewhat hoarse.

Celina smiled. Good, he could still speak. She was almost afraid he would lose his voice with how hard he was crying. “How are you feeling?”

Herobrine was beyond confused at this point, but figured it would best to answer honestly. “I’m… very tired. And… I feel very… weak. I… I’m tired.”

Celina’s smile fell and she shifted a bit in her place. “Herobrine… I’m sorry.”

Herobrine’s brows rose a bit, though his eyes were still filled with cyan droplets. “...What do you mean?”

“Look,” Celina started in a gentle voice. “I… I made a mistake. I… I was angry. I didn’t… I didn’t mean to yell at you like that.”

“Then why did you?”

She was slightly taken aback by the question, but felt she should answer. “Because I was angry. You did something that I felt broke my trust, broke the promise that you made to me. You hurt Steve mentally, made him scared, and made him question the trust he had in you. And to me? That hurts more than any cut I could get, or any of the wounds you gave Steve. Sometimes… hurting someone’s feelings hurts worse than a physical wound.”

Herobrine tilted his head. “What are you getting at?”

Celina closed her eyes. “Look, Herobrine. You may have broken my trust in you… but I shouldn’t have said what I said. I didn’t know what I said would strike such a nerve in you. I… I truly do consider you a friend, and just because I was angry, I shouldn’t have started yelling at you.” She looked up at him. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just angry. But even at that, there’s no excuse for how childish I was acting. You don’t have to forgive me, but I want you to know that I’m truly sorry for making you cry.”

Herobrine felt his lip trembling again. “You could be dead right now. I could have taken revenge for what you made me feel and for making me cry. Why are you apologizing to me when you very well know that I can kill you where you sit for what you did?”

“Because… I trust you,” she whispered. “I’ve trusted you for this long. So I’ll keep doing that. I truly consider you… a friend.” Celina held out a hand to him.

The being raised a hand and she closed her eyes as she waited for him to strike her down.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead… Herobrine took her hand in his.

Celina’s eyes opened and those gray orbs looked into the white ones across from her.

“Celina… I should be the one apolgizing.”

The queen tilted her head. “What do you mean? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No, I did, and I shouldn’t have,” he responded, bowing his head to look down. “I made a deal with you, to not hurt Steven. And that included not doing what I did. I broke your trust, drove a wedge in it and tore it in two.” He sighed softly, wiping his eyes. “I should have listened to you. You’ve only been kind to me in the whole time I’ve been here, and… I think I really needed that.”

Celina looked at him with surprise. 

Herobrine looked up at her. “No one has treated me with such kindness in millennia. I may be thousands of years old… but I wasn’t always like this: cold, cruel, with a hatred for humans. I used to be… someone different. But… you seemed to have reignited my… more human side.” He frowned. “I shouldn’t have done what I did. I made a… a promise. And I never break my promises.” He sniffled. “I’m sorry, Celina. I broke our trust. You apologizing to me… it reminded me how selfless some humans can be. I… you don’t have to forgive me.”

Celina smiled and carefully held his hand. “I forgive you if you can forgive me.”

Herobrine looked at her with surprise, before smiling ever so softly. She hadn’t seen him smile for about a month, not since he smiled at her in the garden. And honestly? It warmed her heart.

“Thank you, Celina,” Herobrine whispered.

“You’re very welcome.” Celina smiled back at him. When more drops fell from his eyes, she instinctively reached over and  wiped them with her thumbs. Herobrine seemed to lean into her touch. She only really noticed how… warm he was. He felt like… like the warmth from a campfire. He also had a really nice smell to him, like… pumpkin pie. Seems like she noticed different things every time she got close to him.

Herobrine let her wipe away his tears, and he chuckled very softly. He hadn’t had someone do that to him in a long time. “Thank you.”

Celina nodded. She watched him shift. She then tilted her head again. “Can I… ask you some stuff? Now that that’s out of the way?”

Herobrine blinked, but nodded.

“If it’s too personal, let me know, okay?” When he nodded, Celina tapped her chin in thought. “So… question one: why did you have such a distaste for humans?”

Herobrine tensed. He found himself holding an area on his chest, the place where he had been punched. Celina noticed this. “I’m sorry, if that was too--”

“No, no… it’s not. It’s just… I haven’t told anyone this story in such a long time.”

“What story?” Celina asked.

Herobrine suddenly took his hands and gently placed them on the sides of her head. “Herobrine, what are you doing,” the queen asked.

“Celina… can you keep a secret?”

The question cut through her like a knife. She nodded. “Yes, as long as it’s not hurting anyone.”

Herobrine seemed to be shaking now. “Celina… I trust you. I… I’m going to show you my memories.”

Celina shook her head. “Brine, you don’t have to do that,” she said, not even noticing she didn’t call him his full name.

“But… I want to. I feel like I have enough trust in you for this. And… I know you won’t run your mouth or use it against me.” Herobrine sighed. “It’s very… intense. Do you… think you can handle this?”

Celina blinked. “I… I think so.”

“Alright. If anything is too much for you at any time, let me know. Okay?”

“...Okay. I’m ready then.”

“...Close your eyes.”

And so Celina did. And when she opened them, she wasn’t in the castle anymore.