The Broken Flame

Celina turned on her heels as a familiar, masculine voice called her name from the front doors. She saw two people there, two familiar people. One was a young man with black hair down to his shoulders, tanned skin, and gray eyes. He wore a sky blue robe with white fur trimmings, white pants, a dark blue shirt, black boots, and a golden crown with green diamond shaped gems in it.

The other person was a young woman with orange hair over her shoulders, emerald green eyes, and fair skin. She wore a pink shirt with a white collar, a white coat, black pants, brown shoes, and a pink bow. Pink and purple wings sprouted from her back.

Celina recognized them. “Cen… Cenlar? Stephanie?” She knew her husband and Steve’s fiancee anywhere.

Cenlar seemed highly aghast from seeing his wife before him, covered in pink bandages from head to toe in various places. She looked so tired, so pained, and her eyes watered as she took a few steps towards him. “Celina… what happened? Why do you have so many wrappings on you?”

Celina stood before her husband, before wrapping her arms around him, almost falling onto him. She began to sob and weep on him, and he slowly returned her embrace. He was confused, but his wife was obviously distressed. She began to cry out.

“Cenlar! I--I missed you so much! I--I didn’t know when you’d come back! You wouldn’t believe the Nether and back I’ve gone through while you were away!”

Cenlar frowned and kissed her head. “What do you--” 

He was cut off when Stephanie gasped. His eyes moved to where hers were, and they went wide. Steve was lying down on a bed, covered in wrappings, and next to him lay a figure that looked almost like him. Cenlar raised a brow. “What in the End?”

“Steve!” Stephanie felt worry bubble up in her as she ran to her husband’s side, dropping to her knees next to his bed. “Oh, Steve, what happened?!”

Celina heard the fairy’s cry and turned to look at her. “He’s passed out, Steph. He’s been out of it for a few days now. He’s not in too good of shape right now.”

Cenlar and Stephanie both turned their gazes to the other person as they whimpered, and Cenlar’s eyes went wide. He recognized this person… and he immediately drew his iron blade.

Celina heard this and asked, “Cenlar?”

“It’s… it’s--it’s Herobrine!” He prepared to run towards the demon, but his wife quickly grabbed into his arm and stopped him in his tracks. The king turned his head towards his wife. “Celina, what are you doing?! Herobrine is in our castle!”

Celina sighed softly. She really didn’t have the energy to explain everything to him, but it looks like she was going to have to in order for her husband to not try and cut down her friend. “Cenlar, don’t… don’t hurt him. He’s… he’s under my care.”

Cenlar struggled to get his arm free, but his spouse held fast. “What are you talking about?! That--that monster is in our castle! He’s obviously down and we can end his reign of--”

“Cenlar… he’s my friend.”

Stephanie and Cenlar’s jaws would have dropped to the floor if they weren’t on their faces. “What?!” Stephanie cried out.

Celina moved Cenlar’s wielding hand down. “It’s… it’s a very long story. I need you both to listen to me, and to not hurt Herobrine. He’s… he’s my best friend, and I need to let you both know his story and why he’s here.” She looked up with those big gray eyes of hers, begging silently for them to listen. “Please?”

Cenlar and Stephanie shared a glance. Celina would never lie to them. Whatever had happened for Herobrine himself to end up injured in the Creatoria castle must have been one hell of a story. Cenlar finally nodded to Celina, and she began with, “It started about three and a half months ago…”

*****

Brine was surrounded in a soothing black void, cradled in safety. There was no pain here, no fear, nothing to be in distress about. He just wanted to stay here a little longer.

Suddenly, the image of Celina pinned against a stone wall flashed before his eyes. She was pinned to a wall with one of his swords. She weakly tried to speak. “Nooohhh…” he murmured in his sleep.

“Brine? Brine? Brine, can you hear me?”

The image flashed to a body… the queen’s body. “Noo… Celina…”

“Brine?”

She wasn’t moving, and Brine’s eyes snapped open. “CELINA!” he shouted out as he jolted up from his sleep. A sharp pain ran through his body and he sobbed out, before falling back onto something soft. He writhed around for a moment, before a gentle hand landed on his shoulder. 

“Brine! Brine, it’s okay, sweetie! It’s okay! Take some deep breaths, okay?”

Brine managed to stop his movements as a familiar voice spoke to him, and he did as it instructed. The Demi-God took several deep breaths, and he felt himself relax into the soft surface. His vision began to clear with shapes and colors coming into view. He blinked again and again, before he realized where he was. 

The walls of Celina’s castle came into his view, and as his white eyes moved around, Brine realized he was lying on a comfy bed, with a thick blanket over him and several pillows under his head. 

A movement to his left had him looking up beside him to see Celina, her gray eyes looking over him with great worry. “Brine,” she softly asked. 

The being blinked again, before speaking in a hoarse voice. “...Celina?”

A sigh of relief escaped Celina’s lips. “Oh, thank the Gods. I was so afraid you wouldn’t wake up.”

“Yeah, we were really scared.”

A voice to his right had Brine turning his head again. There, on his other side, sat Steve, wrapped in cyan wool, with two more people sitting next to him. One appeared to be a young king, the other a fairy with a librarian’s coat. He recognized them, but before he could say anything, another sharp pain ran through his chest. Brine whimpered and gripped onto the sheets under him. He turned his head from one side to the other.

Celina watched her friend squirm a bit in agony, before she took one of his hands. He looked up at her in surprise, and she smiled after placing a kiss to his hand. “You’re okay, Brine. You’re okay. I know you’re hurting. I know. But I promise you, you’re not going to get hurt anymore here.”

Brine nodded and let out a few shuddering sobs. His whole body ached and burned and it felt like he had been thrown into lava and frozen in ice at the same time. His limbs were sore, his head was pounding, and his chest hurt so much.

The Demi-God looked around for a second, and Celina noticed how he seemed confused. “Brine, are you okay, sweetheart?”

“Celina… what happened? How did we… get back here?”

The queen sighed softly and took his hand again. “Well, after you passed out from the potion-blood mix I used on you, I knew we needed to get home. So, I climbed back into that obsidian place you made, grabbed Steve, grabbed you, and carried you both home. It took me a few days, because I was walking with you two, you in my arms, and Steve over my shoulder. To my surprise, the mobs didn’t try to bother me or attack me, save for a few pesky zombies. But they’re brainless, so that makes sense.

“I brought you here, back home, and wrapped you and Steve up and put you guys in beds. You’ve both been out for a while since the fight, as it took me about five days to get back here. Steve only woke up about two days ago, he was out of it for about a week. You’ve been out for nine days now, and even though you were breathing, I was so scared. I was so afraid you wouldn’t wake up, and I’ve been waiting since we got home.”

Brine didn’t even realize how long he must have been out. He was surprised, but at the same time, he wasn’t. He had taken some heavy damage in the fight against Glistenia and her blade had nullified his healing powers during the battle. He should have known he’d be passed out for so long.

Celina could see Cenlar shift a bit, and she tapped on Brine’s shoulder, nodding to her husband and Steve’s fiancee. “Brine, I want you to meet two important people to me and Steve.” She gestured to her husband first. “This is my husband, Cenlar. And this is Steve’s fiancee, Stephanie. They both came home around the time I got you two home, and I… I had to tell them your story to get them to understand why you were here. I hope you don’t mind.”

Brine turned his head to the two sitting next to Steve, his eyes moving over the king and the librarian. Cenlar sheepishly put a hand behind his head. “Um… hello, Brine. Sorry, it’s just that… I never thought I’d actually meet you and speak to you in a friendly manner.” He held out a hand for the being to shake.

Brine blinked sleepily, but smiled after a moment. He weakly shook the young man’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Cenlar.”

Stephanie chuckled. “I suppose you already know who I am, considering I know how you haunted Steve for a long time. But… I’m Stephanie. Everyone calls me Steph.”

Brine shook her hand as well. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you both.”

Celina smiled warmly, before it fell when she remembered what she needed to do. She picked up a potion from the floor and spoke to Brine. “Brine, I need to give you some of my potion. Your wounds still aren’t healing on their own yet, so I’ve been giving you my Regen-Healing potion to help your body spur into using its powers again. I need to unwrap your wound a bit and pour this in. Can… can I do that?”

Brine’s grin fell away and he began to shake a bit. He knew how strong Celina’s potions were, he had seen them used on Steve and knew how much it hurt for large wounds and a great number of them. He sighed, but nodded softly.

Celina nodded back to him, popping the cork and moving some of the bandages on Brine’s chest. She then poured the potion into his wound. 

Brine immediately took a sharp gasp for breath, before crying out, “AHHHHHHAAAHHH!” He lightly squirmed around, gripping onto his sheets to keep himself from moving too much. He knew that would only make it worse if he moved around, so he took rapid breaths instead. He bit his lip to try and stifle his cries, not wanting to show weakness in front of everyone.

A gentle hand took a hold of one of his, and a kiss was placed to Brine’s forehead. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Celina giving him the softest gaze with a gentle smile beneath it. 

“You can cry out if you need to, Brine,” she told him. “I know you don’t want to seem weak, but I know you’re hurting. We all know. Let it out if you need to, dear. We will not judge you, nor will we get angry at you.”

Brine took a moment to soak in her words, before the pain grew and he sobbed out as loud as he could. He was in so much pain and with her words in the air, he didn’t stop himself from vocalizing his pain.

It took several minutes for the agony in his body to tone down enough to tolerate, and when it did, a deep sigh escaped the Demi-God’s lips. He shuddered and his grip grew weak. 

Celina gently pet his hair with her free hand, brushing away some of the hair stuck to his forehead. She saw his white eyes looking up at her, and she asked, “How do you feel, Brine?”