The Broken Flame

Brine looked down at Steve as he gave him a very soft smile, his gaze gentle. His hand was weakly holding onto the Demi-God’s. He let out the softest little chuckle. Brine listened as he spoke.

“Brine… I’ve missed you.”

Brine furrowed his brows. “Steve? How do you feel?”

The miner nodded. “I’m… hurting. My head hurts. But… that was worth it to… get my memories back.”

Celina gasped. “Wait… your memories?”

Steve looked at her. “Yes… my--my memories of… of the Aether. And of Brine.”

Brine held a little tighter to the man. “Wait… what do you remember?”

Steve looked at him, tears rolling from his eyes. “I… I remember the Aether. I remember our sister, Iraura. I remember the deities. But most of all… I remember you, Brine.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “I remember the two of us playing together. I remember exploring the Aether and everything it had to offer with you. I remember us always getting into trouble and having to have our sister come find us. I remember you always patching me up when I needed it.” 

Steve’s smile was full of a sentiment Brine couldn’t quite explain, and it made his eyes water.

The miner chuckled again. “I remember everything now. Everything that Iraura made me forget. She tried to make me forget you, Brine. She tried to erase you from my memories for good. And… it didn’t work. So, she did the only thing she could think to do.”

Steve stayed silent and looked away for a moment, his smile falling. Celina shared a look with Brine, before asking, “What did she do, Steve?”

“She… she put me into an eternal slumber, one that only a God, Goddess, or Deity themself could wake me from.” His voice became a little more quiet on the next few sentences. “Brine, when you became the ruler of the monsters, after… the incident… I wanted to go down there and try to save you. I had seen everything that happened, and I blamed Iraura for not going down there to help you, even when she promised to help you if you needed it.”

As the man spoke, Celina carefully moved to set his head in her lap, propping him up a bit from his spot on the floor.

“I yelled at her, screamed, blamed her for being a coward. I didn’t even care if she struck me down, I was angry with her. She made a promise, and she never went through with it, even when you truly needed it. So, I tried to go down there myself.” Steve sighed. “I should have known she would stop me. She froze me and talked down to me, threatening me and telling me I was being foolish. But I argued with her. And that was when she put me into my state of sleep.”

Brine felt his eyes widen in surprise. “So… that’s why you never came down after what happened to me. You weren’t being a coward like Iraura was, she stopped you.”

Steve nodded. “She did. And for millennia, I was asleep. I could still hear everything, but I couldn’t move or talk or even open my eyes. And I think Iraura knew that one day, I might wake up with the power not being used inside myself. It could build up and I’d be able to break free. So… the last thing I heard in my slumber was Jeb arguing with Iraura about me, and my fate. After that… my earliest human memory is what I remember.”

Celina’s eyes widened in realization. “Wait… she… put you into the world as a human.” Brine’s head snapped to her after she said this. “I’ve read about something like that in books before; of Demi-Deities being banished from the Aether and being turned human in the process. It’s a form of punishment that some say only came from Iraura herself before she was thrown from her throne. There’s records of humans who were once Aetherian coming to this world. I’ve read about them before. Most of the time, they’re thrown down as adults, but… Steve, your parents said you were born, weren’t you?”

Steve nodded. “I think she had me reborn as a human. And she erased my memories in the process, so that way, I wouldn’t try to go find Brine.”

“That might be why I was so drawn to you this whole time,” Brine commented. “I felt like I had a reason to haunt you and some sort of strange connection to you, but… I thought it was just my twisted desires to make you suffer. I think… a part of me knew you were my brother.”

Steve nodded. “Brine… I don’t know how you telling me we’re brothers awoke my memories, but… I’m glad it did.” Steve tried to push himself up from the floor, Celina noticing this when he let out a grunt. She carefully helped him to sit up and the miner looked at Brine with such a gentle gaze. It made Brine’s heart hurt, but in a good way. Someone he truly cared about and loved… was back in his life once more. And he couldn’t be happier.

Steve found himself crying again and he could see Brine doing the same. He suddenly leaned over and wrapped his arms around the Nether Prince, holding tightly to him. Brine was stiff at first, still getting used to contact from others. It only took a moment for him to relax and hold onto the miner, sniffling softly. Steve let out a half chuckle-half sob. “I’ve missed you, brother,” he whispered.

“And I’ve missed you too, brother,” Brine responded, his voice soft. 

Celina sat beside the men, feeling her heart melting. She made a small noise of adoration and clutched her shirt. The two hugging each other was a truly warm sight to see and it made her feel genuinely happy. 

Steve smiled and gently pulled away from Brine, turning to look at Celina. “Celina?”

The queen blinked. “Yes, Steve?”

“Thank you,” he told her. “You’ve brought us together once again and mended the bond Brine and I had with each other. You’ve helped us find the missing pieces of each other, and I thank you for that. You’re a wonderful person, and this truly wouldn’t have happened had you not changed Brine.” Steve smiled. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for us. Your kindness is undeserved by this world and you’re making the world a better place.”

Celina couldn’t help but let her eyes water. She leaned over and held onto her friend, holding tightly to Steve. She felt him and Brine wrap their arms around her and she chuckled. “You guys are my best friends. I love you both and I promise you, I’ll do anything I can for you. I love you guys and you mean everything to me. I don’t know if it was fate that this happened, but I’m glad it did.”

Steve nodded in response. “I feel the same way.” When the trio broke their embrace, the miner looked to the Lord of the Mobs. “Now, brother, I think we have a lot of catching up to do.”

Brine smiled. “I agree. How about we start right now?”

“I… I’d like that.”

The next few hours were filled with Brine and Steve sharing stories and old memories with each other, a certain tone in their voices that made them both truly happy. And when dinner finally rolled around, Celina made them food and they even had Brine and Steve’s favorites for dessert: pumpkin pie and cookies.

When all of them had finished, Brine stated that they should head to bed to rest for the night. Steve and Celian agreed with how late it had become, and Celina bid them both a good night. As she left, Steve and Brine gave each other one last hug for the night. And the trio slept. It was a wonderful rest, one filled with vivid but happy dreams. It had truly been a wonderful day and they couldn’t wait to see what the next would hold for them.

*****

Purple eyes watched through the window of the throne room of the castle. The purple orbs stayed on the human and the Demi-God as they both fell into a deep sleep. The Ender then scoffed and teleported away, finding themself just outside the castle walls. They teleported a few more times, eventually finding themself standing before another Ender in a darkened cave. The taller one looked up from her potion making and turned to the one who had teleported. She narrowed her eyes. “What do you want,” she asked with venom in her words.

“Master, the Demi-God, he was talking to the miner. You spoke of the miner and how he was once a Demi-Deity as well, correct?”

The taller Ender folded her arms across her chest. “Why does it matter?”

“I was watching the miner, the queen, and Herobrine. I… I could hear them.” The shorter Ender watched her go back to her brewing as they spoke. “I… Herobrine has reawakened the miner’s memories from when he was Aetherian.”

The sound of glass shattering rang through the cave and the taller Ender felt her eye beginning to twitch. “WHAT?!”

“Herobrine, he--he told the miner that they were brothers, and the human man cried out while clutching his head. He fell to the floor while the queen and Herobrine attempted to help him. However, when he managed to stop his cries, he reached out to Herobrine and spoke of his memories from the Aether.” The Ender nervously wrung their hands together. “I watched them and heard everything. The miner has regained his memories.” They gulped when the Ender’s furious gaze moved to them. “Will this be a setback, my Master?”

The female Ender found herself glaring at the ground in thought. After a moment, a wicked look found its way to her eyes. “...No, actually. This is good.”

“What do you mean? I thought we were going to try and bring Herobrine back to us. He’ll never want to come back now with his newfound friendship in the humans.”

A dark chuckle came from the Enderwoman. “Oh, my dear servant, I believe we will have to make a change in plans. I believe we can use his weakness to our advantage.” She clasped her hands behind her back, as if a general commanding an army. In a sense, that’s what she was doing. She glanced over her shoulder at the shorter Ender. “Rally the mobs outside the kingdom. Every one that you can find, get together and bring them here. I have a new plan in mind. Now go.”

The Ender nodded and vanished in a cloud of purple. The Enderwoman looked down at the potion she had dropped onto the floor. She snickered darkly. “Oh, Herobrine. You think that breaking away from your duties will be that easy? You think that you can just go play with the humans and never come back? Well, you’re terribly mistaken. You may have found people to confide in now… but rest assured… they will be your downfall.”