The Broken Flame

Celina watched the guards who were behind Herobrine drag him back and take his wrists, wrapping new shackles around them. These ones seemed to be attached to the Nether quartz pillars by long chains, and she could see that the shackles were enchanted. “They… enchanted the chains?”

“They did. Everyone knew I had powers beyond what any of them could dream of having, so when I was chained up to those columns, they used chains that took away every power they knew I had. The only one that they didn’t know of… was my healing abilities. The ones you saw on the night I came to your castle. Remember when you dragged your nails across my face? And the wounds healed almost right away?”

“Yes… yes I remember that.”

“None of the people of the kingdom had ever seen my healing, so they didn’t know I had it. Other than that, every one of my powers were stopped by those shackles and taken away from me. They had those chains blessed by my sister to be able to do that to me. Otherwise, I would have been able to break out of them. But they even took away my strength.”

“Why didn’t you fight back before they chained you then? You could have fought against them before that.”

“...Because I didn’t want anyone else to die because of me.”

Those words cut through Celina and she could hear the true pain in his voice.

As the guards tried to pull Cebrina away, she struggled against them and shouted out, “Let me go! Let me go!” She pulled and she seemed to be stronger than they thought. Celina could see some movements from the corner of her eye and saw the golden clad guard, Sandra, standing next to Rose on the end of the stage. She could only watch between Rose and Cebrina as Herobrine stood with his chains, helpless to do anything.

Cebrina suddenly yelled and broke the chain on her shackles, letting her slam a hand into one of the guards’ faces and shoving the other aside. She looked to her husband before taking off in a sprint towards him. “Herobrine!” she shouted.

Celina heard a dark chuckle and saw Sandra hand an intricately decorated diamond blade to the older princess. She could see Rose walking towards Herobrine with it, and Cebrina only pushed herself to run faster to stop her sister from harming her husband.

She could hear one thing whispered from Rose to Herobrine. “You are a fool.”

And that was when it happened.

Time seemed to slow as Rose suddenly turned on her heels and took the blade. Cebrina was only blocks away and Rose had pulled the blade back.

Herobrine seemed to realize what was about to happen and he shouted, “CEBRINA!”

Rose took her blade and thrust it forward, right through Cebrina’s chest. The princess made a loud pained gasp, trying to take in breath when it was obvious that one of her lungs had been punctured. The sword went all the way through her back and stuck out from her body.

Celina shouted aloud, “NOOOOOOOOOO!” She clenched her fists and tried to run towards the woman, but was stopped by Herobrine’s sudden scream.

“CEBRINA!”

It was loud and filled with pure pain and sorrow, to a level Celina didn’t even think was possible. She saw the Demi-God’s eyes flood over again. Rose cackled darkly and took the blade, forcing it into the platform with Cebrina going with it, and Herobrine’s wife cried out in agony as she felt the sword slice deeper into her flesh. She was pinned to the wood by the sword and Rose stood there, obvious satisfaction on her face from her cruel actions. She then looked to the crowd, speaking to them. “Let us leave these two for their last moments with each other. That much they deserve for being the traitors they are.”

The crowd began to disperse, heading back towards the village with Rose giving one last dark look to Herobrine and Cebrina. She then followed her people, leaving the two alone.

Herobrine couldn’t hold back his sadness anymore. He fell to his knees as his princess struggled and gasped for breath in front of him. She let out another cry of pain and Herobrine shook his head in denial. “Cebrina, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This is my fault. Just hang on, I’ll get out of these chains! Let me--”

The woman shook her head. “No,” she said ever so softly. The look on her face tore Herobrine up from the inside out, sheer emotional torment was taking his body as he could only sit there and watch his wife suffer. He yanked on his chains a few times, but they weren’t breaking. He pulled hard, but eventually stopped when his wife looked to him, the once beautiful glow in her gray eyes seeming to dim. She chuckled softly.

“Herobrine, you---you can… stop.” Her words were spoken with such pain, it hurt Celina’s chest. And she could see Herobrine’s same pain.

“Cebrina, no, I’m not going to stop! I can still get us out of this! I can--”

“No, my dear… there’s no need.” She coughed violently and blood slid from the corner of her lips. She was shuddering from agony, her body slowly getting weaker and weaker. Herobrine could hear her heart beginning to slow its beat and he only struggled harder to get free.

“Brine?”

His wife’s voice spoke again, and he looked at her. Blood was pooling beneath her as she lay there, helpless to get the sword out and trapped before him. He softly asked, “Yes?”

“Thank… you. For--all the… wonderful years… you--gave--me.” She took a few gasping breaths. “You make me happy. You--did… so much fo--for me. I… I will… always be--yours.” She smiled weakly. “I… I love you… so much. You--you gave me… a life… no one else could. You--mean everything--to--me. And… I thank you for that. I’m… I’m sorry.”

Herobrine shook his head again. “Cebrina… save your strength. I’ll save you, I--”

“It’s… no need, my love.” She sighed softly, her now dull eyes looking up to the clouded skies. “Brine… I should--have told… you.”

“Told me what, darling?”

“I… I… I was--I…” She coughed again. “Juliana and Robert… were going to--be… big siblings.”

It took a moment for Cebrina’s words to sink in. But when they did, it hit Herobrine like a pile of falling gravel.

She was pregnant again.

Cebrina whimpered softly, her eyes threatening to close. Stinging tears flooded down her face as she lay limp on the wood. Her breathing became rough and Herobrine could hear the painfully slow beat of her heart in his ears. He was helpless to do anything. He couldn’t stop her suffering. She was feet away but somehow out of reach.

Cebrina’s eyes closed within a moment, as she took one last breath. “Forgive me… Hero--brine. I… I love you.”

Herobrine could only say, “I love you too.”

And that was when the heartbeat stopped. Cebrina’s last breath slipped away and she became still. Her chest stopped its rising and falling, as did her shuddering. And there she lay, eyes closed, head rolled to the side. She looked so peaceful.

Herobrine could only stare at her for a few moments, before whispering, “Cebrina?”

She didn’t say a word.

She was gone.

Herobrine threw his head back in a loud bellow of pain, his cry sounding so human and so agonizing. Tears streamed down his face and fell to the ground as he cried out and wailed for his loss. His wife, his soulmate, his love, his Princess… gone. Her lifeline had been severed because of him. His mistakes had resulted in his wife’s death, she was dead because of him.

And he knew it was no one’s fault but his own.

Celian watched Herobrine as he sat there, mourning over his princess, his love, his wife. She could only mourn with him. She wanted so badly to reach out to him, to console him and comfort him. He didn’t deserve this, he didn’t deserve what had happened to him. He only wanted to rescue his sister-in-law and save her and he never meant to hurt anyone. He only wanted to save Tulip.

She looked over at the still body of Herobrine’s wife. She walked over to it, though she knew she couldn’t actually touch her or affect what was happening. This may have all been a memory, but she felt herself placing a hand to her chest and whispering, “Goodbye, Cebrina. May you be at peace.”

*****

Everything around Celina shifted again to sunset and she found herself on the stage, standing while facing the sudden crowd of the angry citizens of the Oakdred kingdom. They were all shouting and screaming out angry words. And as she heard a loud cry of agony, she knew what they were yelling about. She turned her head and gasped.

Herobrine stood with his arms being held above his head by the chains, his mismatched eyes closed tightly as he screamed up to the darkening sky. He was covered in small wounds and huge openings, all over his limbs and chest and even a couple on his face. Blood spilled from all these wounds and pooled below the Demi-God, onto the wooden platform below him. He sloshed his head back and forth, obviously tired and angry from mounting pain.

She watched as two of the citizens walked up the stairs of the stage while Herobrine’s wounds began to heal and he huffed from the torture. He glared darkly at these people, before they each took an iron sword and shoved them into the being’s sides.

“EEERRRRAAAAHHHHHHH!” he sharply screamed into the sky as the subjects stabbed him. He had tears falling from his cheeks and his body quivered violently as the swords were pulled away. He hissed and snarled as the two left, only for another one of the citizens to come onto the stage with a pickaxe in his hand. He swung it and jabbed it into Herobrine’s stomach.

“GGUURRAAAAAAHHHHAAAAAHHH!” the Demi-God wailed again, doing so again when the pickaxe was removed from him. His wounds began to close again and he could only stand there, panting and whimpering quietly for the moment of reprieve. 

Celina felt her chest hurt so badly. “They… they were trying to kill you. But your powers… your healing… it wouldn’t let you die. They tried to kill you but… you couldn’t die.”

“That’s exactly what happened. They tried to publicly execute me. Citizens were allowed to torture me, try to murder me, but none of them could even come close to killing me or even trying to take my life. It was because of my healing powers. And yet, even when they figured this out, they didn’t cease their efforts to try and destroy me. They kept jabbing blades into me, throwing redstone torches into my wounds, even trying to set me aflame to kill me. And you want to know how long they tried to kill me?”

“How… how long?”

“Three--months.”

Celina’s mouth fell agape. “But… But! They didn’t even give you a trial! They believed what Rose told them and they didn’t even think to trust your words! They didn’t trust you even when they had done so for years already! They instantly lost trust in you because of something you couldn’t control! And ROSE! TOOK ADVANTAGE OF IT!” She was angry, angry beyond words being able to describe. Now she could understand. Now she knew why Herobrine hated humans so much. He was betrayed by a whole kingdom, by people who called him family. He was betrayed by people who adored him so much and used to be grateful for everything he did to help them grow and thrive. And now… now that was all gone to the Nether.

It wasn’t fair.