Fly, Phoenix, Fly - Herobrine x Reader

Chapter Four - Tenuous

Meryl and Tekno were walking and chatting not far behind them, and Herobrine was at the very back, quiet as always. Y/N, who had been trying to ignore him, was more than happy to engage with Alex as a distraction.

"You are fully human, correct?" Y/N asked. "And you live in the Nether?"

Alex nodded. "My ma 'n da died when I was a little one, so my godfather took me in." She explained. "He's a piglin."

"I see." Y/N nodded thoughtfully. It seemed that interspecies friendships were more common than she had expected. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three." Alex said, and Y/N's brows went up. That was very young, even for a human, wasn't it? Barely out of adolescence. "How old are you, m- Y/N?" Alex stumbled slightly over the question, and Y/N had to take a moment to think.

"Four hundred and seventy-seven." She said at last.

"Oh." Alex's jaw dropped in astonishment. "That's- oh, I knew valkyries were immortal, but..."

"Yes, and there are those of my kind that would consider me young." Y/N shot her a grin. "Some of the older valkyries don't consider one a fully-fledged adult until they are five hundred." Alex shook her head.

"I must seem like a- an infant to you."

"A bit," Y/N admitted. "Though, by human standards, you are a young adult as well are you not?" Alex nodded. "So, comparatively, that makes us about the same age."

"Isn't that something to think about." Alex said with a laugh.

The two of them remained in friendly conversation for the next hour or so, Alex asking as many questions as she dared about valkyries and the Aether. Y/N, on the other hand, learned that the young lady's profession was as a mapper and gatherer, which meant frequently going out into uncharted areas of the Nether alone. Y/N was surprised, since she was so young, but given that she was still alive she must be fairly competent at her job.

Eventually, though, they had run out of small talk, and were forced to turn to more serious matters.

"The queen said that you and your friend are familiar with that..." Alex shook her head, struggling for words. "...whoever did that to that poor lad."

"We are." Y/N confirmed. "His name is Sirben, and, forty years ago, he was in the Aether doing the same thing to valkyries."

"Oh." Alex made a face. "And you... chased him into the Nether?"

"Not exactly..." Y/N grimaced at the memory of her time in Sirben's hands. "I- and Herobrine-" She nodded over her shoulder at the cloaked man following them. "-were taken prisoner by Sirben after we rescued my friend Meryl from him. Sirben nearly killed me, but my commander arrived just in time to stop him. We captured his associates, but Sirben himself escaped into the Nether."

"I see..." Alex frowned, glancing back at Herobrine. "I didn't realize that you and the queen's aide knew each other." Y/N fought back a bitter remark.

"We did." She said instead. Alex was quiet for a few moments.

"So, it's been forty years since this 'Sirben' fellow escaped here."

"That's right." Y/N said. "And we don't know what he's been doing since then - other than the only assumption we can make. I'm still trying to figure out if the zombie that attacked you was a fluke, or a deliberate movement to draw our attention."

"Zombie?" Alex echoed.

"Reanimated corpse- that's what he called them."

"So you think it could be a trap." Alex gathered. Y/N could only shrug.