Chapter 3: The Keeper of Balance

The Enderman lunged forward, Steve tackled Alex to the ground and the sword missed them by centimetres. All of a sudden, their opponent teleported so that he was leaning over them and struck downwards. Steve brought his own sword up and narrowly blocked the hit, but now both blades were being pushed closer to the humans. Seeing that this was futile, Steve quickly pushed the blades to the side and jumped back, luring the Enderman away from Alex. It was working, but each swing directed at Steve got closer. The Enderman eventually teleported behind Steve and grabbed his leg. He laughed, "You thought you could defeat me? Poor, simple human."

Steve simply asked, "Could that line be anymore generic?" His answer was being thrown down a small ledge. The Enderman jumped down and was about to finish Steve when the stone behind them burst open, leaving a crater in the mountain, and a white-eyed figure stepped forward from the debris. He eyed the Enderman before pulling out two swords made of smelted netherack and leapt forward with both swords in a reverse grip. The Enderman prepared to block but was met with one of his own tricks: the figure suddenly teleported before impact and kicked him in the back of the head before landing a few more ledges down. The ledge began to crumble beneath them, causing the Enderman to teleport down to his new opponent while Steve was left injured in a cave.

The two beings were now duelling in the remains of Alex's hometown, not a word spoke as Alex looked down to see buildings toppling under their power. She immediately grabbed the bow and went down to Steve, who was now lying unconscious in the hole. Lifting him into her arms, she soon found herself carrying him up the mountain, not that the weight of his armour helped with this task. She cast another glance to the duel, watching the very ground shake as the battle continued in the distance, before starting back up the mountain.

Meanwhile, the duel continued. The Enderman roared, "This is the end of you, nothing shall stand in the way of the master's coming." The white-eyed figure said nothing, instead teleporting into the sky and launching a fireball before teleporting back behind the Enderman and striking with both blades. His opponent took the hits and retaliated with an attack not witnessed on this world: He was surrounded by a purple mist before releasing a powerful shockwave, blasting the nearby ruins to dust, and announced, "I AM GENERAL LAGOTIUS, I SHALL NOT FALL TO A MORTAL TODAY, NOT EVER!"

"I am no mortal," the man said, an aura of fire preventing the shockwave from landing, "I am the keeper of balance, Herobrine…"

Those words clearly had an effect on Lagotius, who stepped back before shaking his head and resuming the attack, though relying more on brutal efficiency than strategy. The two clashed again and again, this time neither could land a hit on each other as blades struck one another in a shower of sparks. Fire collided with ender acid and the two blades clashed as the duel continued. The two opponents fought with all of their might until Lagotius collapsed onto one knee and used the last of his strength to return to the End. Herobrine looked up to the mountain and teleported back to another realm, his whereabouts or even existence were but a myth, but he had chosen, the two had a certain purity around them, especially the girl, perhaps even enough to drown out the growing darkness.

Alex awoke the next day and saw that Steve was stirring too. "Ugh…" Steve groaned as he sat up, "My head…" Acting out of kindness, Alex handed him one of his potions. Steve nodded in thanks before drinking it. It was then that the two of them noticed the note on the table across the room.

Alex read the note aloud, "You have been chosen."

"Chosen for what?" Steve asked, knowing something wasn't right.

"It doesn't say," she replied, "But I don't like the sound of this."

AN: Sorry about the short chapter this time, I didn't really know where I was going with this one. I hope you enjoyed this anyway.