Mythical Shadows

Chapter 5: Higher Authority

As always, the story started with me.

And so, I began telling the story—about me waking up, chasing an intruder, and eventually being left with nothing but a piece of paper. However, when the story included my friends, they took the liberty of being the storytellers.

Meanwhile, I stared around at the table of admins. I had never seen some of them; I wondered why they were there. But in the note that Sound_sercher2 had left me after Rezzus's death, he said something about the "Warlords"—that the name applied to Hypixel, Rezzus, and the "original" admins. So maybe that's who these guys were.

My eyes inevitably went to Hypixel, but he avoided my gaze—maybe because I wasn't the one talking, or maybe because I wasn't exactly his favorite person in the world. And after all, hadn't I ruined everything for him? It was like Codename had said: The server was less stable now. It was more susceptible to Sercher's terror. And . . . it was because of my own actions. It was because of me.

The most exciting parts of the story were the revelations of Sercher's demise and of The Axe. The admins surprisingly waited till the end to make their comments—and I felt sure they had much to say, about Limbo, about Sercher, about the artifacts. But once the storytelling was over, nobody said anything for a while. They were lost in thought.

"I don't know who Herobrine is," said Hypixel. "Maybe he died in the war—but I would guess that he never died at all." He paused to gather his thoughts. "After the war, stories of paranormality and frights arose, all surrounding the name Herobrine. But he was nowhere to be seen, and we don't know where the myths began.

"Either way, we quickly decided to take advantage of the hype and create an adventure game called Herobrine's Mansion, with 'Herobrine' being the fictional antagonist. But . . . we ran into problems, and it was never finished." Hypixel shook his head. "So I don't know who he is, but it's strange that he's appeared—or reappeared—out of nowhere."

"If your memory isn't failing you, and you've never met him," said Typo, "then why would he be after you?"

Hypixel shook his head again. "If only I knew," he said. "I'm inclined to question his authenticity, but he seemed willing to verify it. Yet simultaneously, he seems far too histrionic—too synthetic."

"Unless Herobrine was being controlled . . ." began AgentKid, his voice fading. "But no: I'm skeptical that Sound_sercher would entrust someone with such an ornate task of deception. Sercher may have quite the silver tongue, as with PixelPig2004 or with TheFlawed, but he is not foolish."

"Foolish," repeated JamieTheGeek. He stared off into space somewhere, but then he snapped to look at AgentKid. "Curious, isn't it? Our old friend must be foolish: either to entrust the artifacts with Herobrine, and so risk his life; or to entrust such acting to Herobrine, and so risk his entire plan."

AgentKid chuckled, and then sat in silence, and merely looked at Jamie—probably weighing his words.

"Either way, it sounds like he was a good fighter," said Codename, "but nothing that can't be handled, I'd say."

"Ehh," said Robity, speaking for the first time. She glanced at Codename, as if unconvinced of what he just said.

"At any rate, I doubt we'll know for certain," said AgentKid. "However, I would say that it's a reasonable possibility that this is merely a trap designed by Sercher—and, by extension, we should take heed lest it ensnare us."

"Whether Sercher is among the dead or not, it will be dangerous no less," said Jamie with a look of both positivity and severity.

"Especially because Herobrine probably has all the artifacts," added Robity, "with The Staff included."