hi! uh, so this is technically the sequel to my first fic Withered, buut it's only really gonna reference it sometimes, so you don't technically have to read that first. this story still has the nervous Jesse from Withered, so there's that too. let's get on with it; hope you enjoy!
Life was simple. Well, about as simple as it could get, being literal heroes. It was by no means simple compared to life before, but that didn't necessarily mean it wasn't fun.
It had been nearly a year since the Fall of the Wither Storm. Jesse had adjusted to being a leader surprisingly well for how adamant she had been about them all being equal on the team. She still stuck to the idea, but everyone knew that if that were really the case, they wouldn't have lasted a month as a functioning team. Petra was still adjusting to being on a team in the first place, and Axel, as well as Olivia, were just working on upping their skills to be "just as capable as Jesse and Petra in battle."
For the most part, they had been taking jobs from citizens all over the place, and going treasure hunting. The Order Hall(which they had helped build once everything else was taken care of) had to have an extra room added for them, which was filled with random treasures, a variety of posters from Redstonia and Jesse's few EnderCon posters on the walls. And, because none of them were good at coming up with names, they ended up just calling it the Treasure Room.
Jesse had put Reuben in there. She had framed the little porkchop he had left behind and put him there with a poster and a flower pot, with a flower she cared for daily. At first it seemed to be a little pointless, possibly even unhealthy for her to hold on for so long. But they discovered after a while that the days she was too tired to water the flower in the pot were her worst. So they let her keep using her little coping mechanism. And she had gotten a good deal better.
They'd all taken charge of their own things both around town and in other areas. Petra had ended up the head of the city Guard there in Taivas. (The name had been decided on while they were gathering people from the camps scattered around; Olivia could never remember what it meant, but it had some sort of meaning related to the defeat of the Wither Storm.) Jesse was pretty much the equivalent of a mayor in the sense that she was usually the one to look over a lot of the major papers and complaints. Axel wasn't in charge of anything in Taivas, but he did some sort of second-in-command position in Boom Town. Olivia took care of any machinery issues and requests that came up(there weren't many, so it wasn't often) and…
Well, she had more or less been dropped into the leader position in Redstonia.
She had only gone to help with the rebuilding process not long after the Order Hall had been built. After working along with several residents, someone- she couldn't quiter remember who; it may have been Calvin- approached her and more-or-less told her she was going to take Ellegaard's place, seeing as the renowned inventor was no longer there. She had agreed to the task, though she told Jesse upon return that she really wished she hadn't. She didn't feel qualified for the position in any shape or form, but they seemed content with her in charge there, so she didn't really want to back out on them.
That said, one downside of it was the trips she would have to make throughout the months. She'd found checking in once a week for any possible paperwork there or issues around the other areas of Redstonia to be the easiest on both her and Calvin, who had taken up his previous position and was in charge of what he could handle while she wasn't there. On occasion, someone would end up in Taivas to retrieve her if there was anything major, but for the most part, she simply went once a week at the least. More if she had nothing to do with the others.
And, well, coming back wasn't usually much of anything either. This time, though, she had just gotten up to the Hall doors when they opened from the other side, and Jesse nearly ran right into her. Considering it was still early, Jesse was still trying to pull one of the straps of her dungarees over her shoulder to clip it to the front as she walked, and wasn't entirely expecting Olivia to be right in the doorway.
"Oh-" Jesse took a step back in surprise, taking a second to analyze what was happening, before offering a small smile of greeting. "Hey. You're back early."
"Early?" Olivia placed a hand on her hip. "I was supposed to be back two days ago."
"W-well," Jesse rubbed the back of her neck, "I meant it's kinda early i-in the morning."
Olivia just shrugged, shifting the small bag hanging on her shoulder. "You're out and about pretty early, too. Is something up?"
"Someone's complaining about Ivor again. So I gotta go make sure he didn't climb onto a roof again or something." Jesse shrugged slightly, finally managing to clip her strap shut. Olivia blinked, then shifted the bag off of her shoulder and reached past Jesse to drop it inside.
"I'll come with you. Not quite ready to sit down with papers again." Jesse nodded, stepping fully outside and shutting the door behind her. She stepped past Olivia and lead the way back down the pathway to the main road.
"So, how're things in Redstonia? Like you said, you're two days later than usual." Jesse glanced up at her, one hand moving to fiddle at the amulet-shaped charm of the necklace around her neck. Olivia briefly forgot where she had gotten that, then remembered she had been the one to give it to her while they were in Soren's End fortress.
"They're alright, I guess." Olivia shrugged lightly. "Couple of people are still looking to blame me for Ellegaard, but for the most part, there were just a bunch of malfunctioning machines and complaints to take care of."
Jesse hummed lightly as they reached the end of the pathway, stepping out onto the main road. "Well, I guess it could be worse."
"Yeah, it definitely could." Olivia followed her off of the path, nodding slightly before glancing around.
Very few people were milling about this early in the morning. Most of the little shops lining the main street were either closed, or in the process of opening. One or two- bakeries, if she remembered correctly, and produce shops- were already open and taking customers. None of the people she saw around the area she recognized- not by name, at least.
"So, uh…" She glanced at Jesse, who was starting towards one of the side roads. "Who exactly did you hear about Ivor from? There aren't many people around."
Jesse shrugged. "One of the shopkeepers. She said he was causing trouble somewhere over here."
Olivia glanced at the area ahead, then looked back to Jesse. "How exactly did she manage to tell you if you were still dealing with your straps when I ran into you?"
"I've been trying to get that strap for an hour. I gave up for a while." Jesse shrugged again, grinning sheepishly. She opened her mouth to continue, when a very faint, very familiar series of shouts sounded from roughly a block away. The two shared a glance, then started towards the noise.
The shops they passed were no busier than the ones on the main street of town. A couple of the stalls were obviously opened, but abandoned by their owners, likely to see what the commotion was around the corner. Olivia noted one moving stand, one covered in fireworks, was still being run, but the man running it looked all but happy to be pushing it into place this early.
The yelling got louder and louder as they approached the corner. Olivia shot a glance at Jesse just before they turned it. "Two iron says he's on a roof."
"I'm not taking that bet," was Jesse's only response before they turned the corner.
The road they turned onto was one of the shorter ones, leading to a large park at the edge of town. The park seemed to be where Ivor was, seeing as there was a crowd at the edge of said park. A few of the shop owners and stall owners were still in their respective places, simply watching the morning entertainment from their stores.
"Too bad. You would've won." Olivia shook her head as they started towards the park.
Ivor, in fact, was not on one of the roofs of the shops like either of them had anticipated, but was on what seemed to be a self-made platform in the park, a bucket full of something glowing red in his hands as he shouted down at the townsfolk.
It wasn't necessarily an uncommon scene, but it definitely wasn't common enough to not look incredibly weird.
As they reached the back edge of the crowd, Iovr took notice of them, jolting to his feet and nearly dropping his bucket of lava in the process. "Jesse! You're up early!"
And, of course, he seemed to act like he wasn't so close to accidentally pouring lava on the twenty people at the base of his platform.
"Ivor, what are you doing?" Olivia folded her arms as she called up. He glanced at her, then at the bucket in his hand.
"I was trying to give our little park a new fountain, but these people seem to dislike the idea! I only wanted to give a little gift to the community!" Ivor explained, earning a few irritated groans or shouts from the crowd.
Jesse glanced at the platform, then at Ivor. "Ivor, putting lava in an area where kids play isn't a-a good idea."
Ivor folded his arms. "Why not? They know not to touch it!"
Olivia bit her tongue before she could respond with "not really." Jesse beat her to a better one.
"E-even if they don't mean to touch it, they could still run into it by accident." Jesse lightly folded her arms. "I-it isn't safe."
Ivor scoffed, then shifted his weight. "What is it with you people being against fountains?"
"We aren't against normal fountains," Olivia pointed out. "You know, with water."
"Bah! Those are no fun!" Ivor pocketed his bucket nonetheless and quickly began taking his platform down. The crowd finally began to disperse, and Jesse relaxed, letting out a small sigh.
"That was easier than I thought it'd be," Olivia hummed mildly. Jesse nodded in agreement.
As Ivor started taking the stand below the platform down, he suddenly froze, then turned and jumped down from his perch, leaving the majority of the stand still up. "Oh! Jesse!" He darted over to them excitedly. "I've found something you and the others will be interested in!"
Jesse blinked in surprise, then shared a glance with Olivia. "Really? What'd you find?"
"I'll tell you all together. That way I can show you the maps." Ivor started to walk off, likely towards the Hall, but Olivia stepped in his path before he could.
"Not before you take down the rest of your podium." He made a face at her, then glanced at Jesse. She nodded slightly, and he sighed.
"Fine," he grumbled. Ivor turned and went back to the remnants of his attempted fountain, starting work on taking the rest of it down.
Olivia eyed the remaining bit of the podium, picturing what it had looked like before in her head silently. Ivor had perched himself on it, but didn't seem to have a way down.
"Ivor, how exactly were you planning on placing the lava up there without burning?" She glanced at him as she spoke. Ivor turned and glanced at her briefly, then reached into his pocket and pulled an orange potion from it.
Potion of Fire Resistance, if she remembered correctly. He made plenty of those for Petra, who was in the Nether more often than anyone else they knew.
"I had this, of course." He shoved it back into his pocket. "What do you take me for?"
"Someone who can wake up an entire town at seven in the morning with a bucket of lava," Olivia responded. She wasn't necessarily wrong, but she had a teasing tone in her voice. Jesse grinned, then tried to hide it behind a hand. Ivor glared at Olivia, then finished taking down the podium.
"Shut up." She snorted at that. "Anyways," he turned and moved back over to them, dusting off his hands as he left the only evidence of his stunt as a section of crushed grass where the podium had been, "let's go talk about this treasure I've found."
Jesse nodded, and they started back towards the Hall. Ivor was quick to end up ahead of them, practically bouncing on his toes in excitement. Olivia rolled her eyes in amusement and followed after him.
It was a little weird to think about how quickly his character could change from irritable and serious to excited and childlike. Not just between right then and the Wither Storm ordeal, but within the span of about ten seconds. She knew from experience that he could go from excitable to serious the second he finds out one of them is injured in any slightly major way. He had been surprisingly frustrated with her when he found out she didn't have work gloves to use while working on her machines, and she'd ended up receiving a pair from him within an hour. Not that she could reverse the damage it had done, but still.
It hadn't been the only thing to cause any and all feeling in her hands and arms to vanish; no, that honor was shared between her work and the Withersickness.
She had learned from that little nagging spree that redstone being activated on bare skin would damage nerves, and she had done that plenty of times already. He pointed out that the Withersickness had simply sped up the process for it. Now, she couldn't feel anything in either arm all the way up to just below her shoulders. She could still move them, thank god, but she couldn't tell when she did. She had dropped things and grabbed things and accidentally cut her hand on a sharp piece or burned it on an overheated piston plenty of times now.
Honestly, she thought she was bad when it came to "mothering" the others. Ivor gave her a run for her money.
Despite it, they'd all been suspicious of him for a good while after the dust had settled. For good reason, obviously; he'd nearly destroyed the world. But Jesse had been adamant about giving him a second chance, and eventually, they had grown to trust him. Somewhat. Even the townsfolk had left him alone about his mistake, and now were upset with him over his lava antics instead.
They reached the Hall's pathway again and made their way up it; for the time being, Ivor was staying with them, but he had been talking about building himself a house for a little while. They stepped inside, Ivor instantly running off to get whatever maps and books he needed for this, while Olivia picked up her bag and she and Jesse moved further inside, towards the kitchen, where they knew Petra and Axel would be at this point.
They were right; Petra was seated at the table with a mug and a piece of toast, ashes in her hair proving she had been on another trade run. Axel was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, his own coffee mug in his hands and everything on him disheveled, proving he had woken up within the last ten minutes.
"Hey," Petra looked up from her mug as they entered the room. "Where've you two been?"
"Ivor was trying to make a lava fountain in the park." Olivia hooked her bag on the chair across from her and sitting down. Jesse moved into the seat beside her.
Petra groaned, hanging her head and rubbing the back of her neck. "Classic Ivor. I might as well set patrols earlier just for keeping him out of trouble this early in the morning." She lifted her head again, brushing her hair over her shoulder. Olivia snorted.
"Honestly? He'd get past them somehow. I wouldn't bother." She shook her head, leaning her arms on the table.
Petra snorted. "I guess you've got a point." Her hair fell over her shoulders again, causing a few flakes of ashes to fall out of it, one of them landing in her coffee. Petra grumbled at that. "Damn it."
"Where did you go this time around?" Jesse shifted in her seat.
"Some town North of Mescue. I forget the name." She shrugged mildly. Jesse nodded. "Got an emerald and a hunk of amethyst from it."
"Nice," Jesse grinned.
"What's in the bag?" She glanced at Axel, then at her bag. "Did you get something cool and take two days to get back because of it?"
Olivia looked at him again flatly. "It's paperwork. I don't think that's worth calling 'cool' unless it magically disappears."
Petra started to say something, but was interrupted by two heavy books and a rolled-up map hitting the table, nearly sending her coffee flying. She managed to pick up her mug in time, keeping it from going everywhere. Ivor stood over what he'd dropped, placing his hands on his hips and grinning excitedly.
"I've found something."
Olivia lifted an eyebrow. "Really now?"
He made a face at her sarcasm and reached for the rolled up parchment. "An ancient treasure is supposedly hidden in a temple in a jungle about a day's travel from here." He unrolled the map, using the books to hold down the edges as Axel approached to get a better look. "No one knows for sure if it actually exists."
"Where'd you hear about this one?" Petra glanced at the alchemist.
"I've been studying these books for ages now. They detail an image of a temple in a forest. I've heard from travelling salesmen about which jungle it is." He pointed to an area on the map, which was of an area Northwest of them. It had their town on it and everything. "According to them, they saw it about here." He circled an area in the center of the indicated jungle, which was already circled in red. "I don't know if it really exists, but if it does, there should be a treasure hidden inside."
Olivia hummed, then glanced at Jesse. "I think it sounds cool."
Jesse nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I-I think we should check it out." She looked between Axel and Petra. "What about you guys? You in?"
"Heck yeah I am," Axel grinned, placing his mug on the table.
"Count me in." Petra grinned, standing up.
"Sweet. We'll get supplies and head out as soon as we're ready." Jesse nodded, then stood up. Olivia nodded in agreement.
"Wonderful!" Ivor bounced on the balls of his feet.
"Oh, Ivor?" Petra, who had started towards the hallway, paused in the doorway and turned to look at him.
Ivor turned to look at her. "Yes?"
She smirked lightly. "Stay out of trouble, or I'll kick your ass."
AN: aand there we have it! updates'll probably be a bit sporadic for a while since i have school and things to deal with too, but i'll try to not have month-long gaps like Withered did! sorry about those, ahah :'3c
until next time!