Fly, Phoenix, Fly - Herobrine x Reader

Chapter Two - Unfinished Business

so uh, I have coronaed virus lol

I feel rotten but I also don't have to go to work and I need something to keep me from going Insane so! Maybe you'll get regular updates for a bit :3

__

Neither of them spoke for a long time, just staring at each other, and Meryl remained quiet beside them. Y/N's mind worked frantically as she struggled to process this - Herobrine was here, and- and from the looks of things, perfectly safe. How long- what had he been doing all this time-??

It was Herobrine who eventually broke the silence. "You look well," He said.

"So do you." Y/N returned automatically. A moment later, the implications of his presence hit her. "You are in the employ of the Queen of the Nether?"

"I am." He nodded, meeting her eyes impassively. Y/N frowned.

"...for how long?"

"About... forty years, I suppose." He answered. Y/N blinked, and bitterness welled up inside of her. And no one had told her? "Meryl, it's good to see you as well," He greeted her before turning away and lifting his hood to hide his face again. "Come. The castle is not a long walk from here." Numbly, Y/N followed him with Meryl at her heels as he led them towards the edge of the platform.

The walk to the castle was a quiet one. Herobrine barely looked at them, focused on the path ahead, and Y/N and Meryl communicated through a series of shared glances their utter bafflement at this situation. When their guide continued to ignore them, Y/N chose to do the same to him, turning her attention instead to the surrounding terrain.

It had been more than 300 years since she had last been to the Nether, as a member of one of the several companions of valkyries that had been sent to chase Herobrine from his throne. It was dim, but their surroundings were still quite visible, as the reddish-brown rock that made up the majority of the terrain reflected the light from the great seas of churning lava. While Y/N would be far more comfortable if she had the sky above her head, the jagged Nether ceiling was high enough above her that it didn't trigger her fear of enclosed spaces.

They were passing through a portion of the Nether known as the Wastes, named such due to the fact that very little life was present. The only thing other than rock around them were small patches of brown and red mushrooms. Y/N could see signs of civilization in the distance, primitive, piglin settlements - but the blackstone road that they were on led in the other direction.

"How much longer will it be before we reach the castle?" Meryl spoke up.

"Perhaps another thirty minutes," Herobrine answered without turning around. "We will come into view of the capital shortly." Meryl exchanged a glance with Y/N, then looked forward again as the road led them around the curve of a cliff and the capital city came into view.

The city itself rested in a crescent-shaped valley, wrapped around a towering cliff atop which was built the castle. The fortress seemed to dwarf the city beneath it, though Y/N knew the city stretched much further into the earth. The city below was alive with light and movement, visible even from such a distance. With no sun to tell the time of day, Y/N was sure that the city never truly rested.

A thin bridge stretched over the city, from the edge of the valley up to the castle gates, and it was to this bridge that the road they followed led.

Herobrine's estimate turned out to be just about correct. It took them another twenty minutes to reach the bridge, and nearly ten more to cross it. They began to encounter piglins as they grew closer to the castle, none of whom seemed at all bothered by Herobrine's presence. The valkyries' wings, on the other hand, drew more than a few curious looks.