Now that Jesse thought about it, she hadn't built anything for fun in a long time. That's not to say she didn't build, oh no, she had helped built new homes, bridges, the New Order of the Stone's Hall, a dirt tower to get back to Sky City, the list went on. Yet the last time Jesse could remember building something fun was back in BoomTown, when she had made her tower out of pink wool in the shape of a pig. Even then, it was still a race against time thanks to the Wither Storm and that poor tower got blown to smithereens.
That's why when Lukas had arrived at the Order Hall four days ago asking if anyone wanted to help out on a new build of his, Jesse had been the first to volunteer. She had even found a space for them to build, a flat grassy field just a few miles from the Hall. The structure, going by Lukas' blueprints, would be a fountain. The fountain would have a base made out of quartz and prismarine bricks, in the center would be a sculpture of a tree with real oak wood where the water would flow out but the "leaves" would be constructed out of green clay, and finally placed on the other top would be a beacon to light it up. So far the two had completed the base and were now constructing the tree sculpture for the center. Jesse was at the top layer, placing down some wood blocks in a three by three pattern. Lukas on the other hand was at the crafting table they had set up nearby, adding some green dye to the clay blocks. Once he set the clay blocks around a cactus green dye, he watched with a small grin as they centered together before becoming yet another green dyed clay block with a puff of smoke. He swiftly grabbed it and placed it in his inventory before turning his head to look up at Jesse, his smile growing bigger at the sight of her placing the last wooden block down. The girl looked down and returned the grin.
"Nice," he called up to her, "we're halfway done. Wanna take a quick break?"
Jesse nodded and hopped down from the wooden tower, brushing some dirt off her Star Shield armor. She then took a seat on one of the quartz blocks that made up the base where Lukas soon joined next to her. After some digging around in his inventory, the blonde pulled out some chocolate chip cookies.
"Want one?" He asked, offering the second in his hand.
"Thanks," Jesse replied with a nod, happily taking the cookie and munching on it with large bites. She could now wholeheartedly agree that her friend had improved in his baking skills. She thought back to some of Lukas' previous batches of cookies many months ago. Some he had forgotten to add sugar, another batch he had accidentally left the shells of the cocoa beans in the batter, and there were multiple times where he had burned the edges. After many taste-tests from Jesse and Axel gone wrong, Lukas had begun to read any recipe book he could get his hands on. Nowadays, having something that Lukas baked was a blessing during times of snack-craving. Cookies he had nailed down, though cakes were still a work in progress.
"So I talked to Petra," she continued, finishing the last of her cookie, "and she said she'd help get a Nether Star for the beacon."
Lukas nodded, "Awesome. Oh, speaking of which, I'm getting kind of worried that the beacon won't be enough to keep the fountain lit up."
He rose from his seat and stepped backwards, looking up and pointing to the top of their in-progress build, "See, the beacon will probably keep the top the lit up, but the base might get overshadowed."
Jesse looked over her shoulder to get a better glance at the fountain's base, releasing a small hm as she contemplated a solution to the issue. She then stood up as well, placing her chin in her hand.
"We could put torches on the base corners," She suggested.
Lukas folded his arms, his gaze locked onto the fountain, "That might work, but I dunno, torches might not match well with the quartz. Plus, someone might burn themselves if they lean against it."
"Good point," Jesse said. She placed her hands at her hips until an idea sparked in her head. Her green eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers, "Oh! How about this, instead of torches, we put sea lanterns on the corners?"
Lukas rose an eyebrow, pondering her suggestion while examining the base. His questioning look shifted into enthusiasm as he grinned and looked back at Jesse, "Yeah! That'll look good with the quartz and it won't be too distracting."
Before Jesse could respond, the young builder suddenly added, "And- And once we put the clay on, we could put some glowstone on the corners of the clay. And then in the center-,"
"-We'll put the beacon! Perfect!" The ravenette finished cheerfully. The two exchanged excited smiles as they raised their arms and high-fived each other.
It was odd in a way, if someone had talked to Jesse nearly a year ago, the idea of her and Lukas collaborating like this wouldn't have even crossed her mind. Heck, she probably would've pretended to vomit at the idea. It felt like so long ago when they were just small townies living in their treehouses or wooden cabins out in the woods. She could hardly remember the feeling of the only large priority in her life being a yearly building competition followed by a convention.
A convention...
Wait a second.
Jesse blinked.
What was this fountain for again…?
The universe had this funny way of answering Jesse's questions, as not even a moment later Lukas said, "Can't wait to see how it looks in the city."
Ah. Right.
Not everyone had settled in the New Order of the Stone's town. While most of the Wither Storm survivors were more than happy to settle down in a new spot and start over, others were more hesitant. Some groups had gone off to see if there was anything left of their former homes, others went out searching for missing friends and loved ones, and larger groups of people had decided to rebuild in different locations. If one traveled around their world, they may find a small village scattered here and there, but there were only four larger towns and major cities that were known. First of course was their own town, Stoneville, where many people who had nowhere else to go had settled. Then came New BoomTown, Magnus' rebuilt kingdom. Reconstruction there hadn't been too difficult, seeing how its citizens ended up blowing up most of it afterwards. Redstonia had remained mostly untouched, though with Ellegaard gone, there had been some power struggles. Luckily Olivia seemed to have helped sort out the reconstruction there, and Calvin eventually took charge. And finally there was the newly built Moog City. It was the largest when it came to population size, and it lied near the center of their world. Gabriel stepped up in much of the construction of the city, despite his shattered reputation. Many people had traveled there in hopes of starting a new life or finding people they had been separated from in the Wither Storm.
With most of the reconstruction complete and the anniversary of the defeat right around the corner, it came as no surprise to anyone that people would want some sort of celebration. Since the former Order of the Stone were revealed as frauds, reorganizing EnderCon was out of the question. The people of this world had new heroes to celebrate, after all. And so, a new convention was organized; Biome Fest. Weird name, sure, but Jesse was just happy they hadn't named it WitherCon. Everyone had agreed on the first Biome Fest being held in Moog City, seeing how it would be big enough and would be easy to travel to. Naturally, the New Order of Stone was invited to appear as honored guests. In about two weeks, they would be traveling to Moog City to make their appearance. People from all over their world were probably ecstatic to see the heroes who defeated the Witherstorm in person. Anyone would be excited.
Well, that is, anyone except Jesse.
"Yeah," She said, forcing a smile on her face, "I'm sure everyone will love it."
The change in her mood didn't go unnoticed, as Lukas' smile faded.
"Alright, what's wrong?" He asked. "Is it something on the fountain?"
Jesse's voice shook as she failed to assure him, "No, no! The fountain's fine. Nothing's wrong, really."
Lukas folded his arms, "Jesse, you're doing that thing again."
"What thing?"
"That thing you do when something's wrong but you don't want to say it."
"What? Am not!"
"Yes you are."
"You're seeing things."
"I think what I'm seeing is that other thing you do when you're lying."
"What other thing?"
"That thing you do with your hair- yeah, that, you're doing it right now."
Jesse paused, realizing that her right index finger was being coiled by the few yellow-highlighted strands of her bangs. Damn it. Of course he noticed. She immediately pulled her hand away, but it was no use to keep up the charade. Lukas was an observer, and when his gut told him something, it wouldn't go down without a fight. Their conversation about Petra's sickness back in The End was one of many examples.
He raised an eyebrow, "So, what's on your mind, buddy?"
Accepting defeat, Jesse sighed, "Just a little...nervous about this whole Biome Fest."
"Oh," Lukas replied, his expression softening, he nervously ran a hand through his hair, "I'm guessing it's not just stage fright, huh?"
"Stage fright? No way, I'm the queen of giving speeches," Jesse attempted to joke, though it didn't phase Lukas, concern was still all over his face. She dropped the smile once more, folding her arms and turned away. She stared in the direction of their town, safely nestled in this valley surrounded by trees, protected by large walls. "People are gonna have questions. They'll start asking, 'Wowie Jesse! What was it like destroying the command block?' or, 'What was the Wither Storm's favorite food?' Answers? It was awful, and the Wither Storm's favorite food was everything."
A gentle breeze ran throughout the grass, lightly lifting some of the strands of Jesse's hair off her back, as the rest of her body was completely unmoving, eyes that were locked on to the town were now focusing on the ground.
She sighed once more, "What am I supposed to do if they ask about him?"
How a year could seem to pass by so slowly, Jesse would never know. Nearly one year ago, she had watched her best friend die right in front of her. Since that day, time just seemed to be in slow motion. All of those treasure hunts with the New Order, the reconstruction they had done, the month-long wandering in the Portal Network, and their trips back into said network were jammed pack in one year. And in all of it, Jesse would only miss Reuben more every single day. Soon year two without him would come, and the numbers would just continue to grow. Nothing could ever change that.
Jesse felt Lukas' hand on her shoulder, turning her head she saw the sympathy in those blue eyes of his.
"Hey...listen," He began, "I know the anniversary won't be an easy day. Are you gonna be okay?"
She inhaled a deep breath before letting it out and answering, "Yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."
"Look, Jesse, no one would blame you if you didn't want to come-,"
Jesse shook her head, "They need me to be there. So many people are still trying to start over after what happened, right now they need their heroes."
"Jesse-," Lukas started to say. Jesse was preparing herself to hear a lecture she was far too used to, those talks about how she needed to take it much easier on herself. She heard it more often than she would've liked.
But the coming debate was cut off when they were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Hey, Jesse!" Olivia was calling to her. Jesse looked over and spotted the engineer leaning against the wall of one of the open gates that led to back of the Order Hall, "We're done packing, are you coming?"
A memory from earlier this week clicked in her mind. That's right, Olivia and Ivor were heading to Crown Mesa, and invited her to tag along. Well, not exactly. Olivia had been planning to go to Crown Mesa alone to exchange notes with Harper, when Ivor had begged her to take him with her. After days worth of pleading, Olivia had finally given in and said yes. Now as for why Jesse was coming, well, along with himself, Ivor had insisted Jesse come too. Whenever she tried to ask why, Ivor would tell her an excuse along the lines of "It's been a while since you last saw Harper!" or "The more the merrier!" Actually, looking back, this wasn't the first time Ivor had convinced Jesse to come along on trips to visit Harper...
Jesse cupped her hands around her mouth and called back, "Yeah, one sec!"
Olivia nodded and headed back inside, the gate closing behind her.
Jesse turned her attention back to Lukas, frowning she said, "Sorry Lukas, I totally forgot I was leaving today."
Lukas shook his head, seeming to hurriedly drop the previous subject and gave a reassuring smile, "Hey no worries. We're going to need prismarine for the sea lanterns anyway, I'll start collecting some, and then we can get back to work when you guys are back. Sound good?"
She felt relief wash over her as she smiled back and gave a thumbs up, "Thanks man. I'll see you later!"
Jesse immediately started back towards town, silently thanking whatever forces ran their world for perfect timing along the way.
Lukas watched her go, the smile slowly fading. He let out a sigh, before turning his attention to their incomplete build. The universe had let Jesse off the hook this time, but the fountain wouldn't be the only thing they needed to talk about when she came back...
When Ivor ran off with the enchanted flint and steel along with the Atlas, Jesse was the one who told the others to simply let the excited alchemist hurry off. While she had been right that he would return, that didn't stop the lectures Ivor received from nearly everyone (mostly from Petra and Lukas) when he returned a few days later. To make up for it, Ivor had gone back into the Portal Network to memorize the structure of their world's portal, and he spent an entire week building an exit portal in the basement of their Hall. It definitely made up for his little solo-adventure, as everyone was happy to know that they wouldn't have to travel all the way back to the jungle temple and cut through Sky City's world just to get back to the Portal Network. But of course, that left a new dilemma for the New Order of the Stone; how should they share the items?
After much debate, everyone agreed on a system. Every week, one person got full possession of the Atlas and the enchanted flint and steel, and when the week ended it was up to that person to come up with a game of activity that would decide who got it next. The system seemed to work well, so the group had been using it for months now. This week's game maker had been Axel, who set up a big game of capture of the flag mixed with a snowball fight. Their fierce "battle" had gone on for a while, until Olivia had won when she surprised Jesse and Petra with a dispenser machine filled with snowballs. How the engineer managed to build it without anyone noticing, nobody would ever know. Regardless, she gladly accepted her prize of the Atlas and the flint and steel, even if it came with the cost of Ivor's begging.
Speaking of which, the two were already waiting in the main corridor when Jesse entered.
"At last!" Ivor exclaimed, "Let's not waste anymore time."
Olivia rolled her eyes before looking towards Jesse, "Ready to go?"
"Think so," Jesse replied with a nod. Ivor took her answer as the opportunity to dash off ahead to the basement entrance. Olivia and Jesse exchanged amused glances before trailing behind in the same direction. Jesse took the time to check her inventory one last time. She had her newest enchanted sword (it was rule number one, you never leave home without a sword), a couple of apples, normal flint & steel, some leftover materials from the fountain build, and some cobblestone. Ready to go.
"Hey guys," Petra greeted when came out of a room and walked past the two in the hallway, "heading out?"
Olivia gave a nod, "If we don't leave now, Ivor might explode."
"Hold down the fort while we're gone?" Jesse piped up.
The redheaded warrior nodded, "Can do. Axel and me were going to check on some stuff in town anyway. Have fun."
Petra continued the opposite direction, Jesse giving a small wave as they parted ways.
The two girls headed down the steps to the basement where the orange portal with the wooden frame stood. Ivor already stood in front of it, seeming to almost bounce happily with excitement.
"Come on now! We shouldn't keep Harper waiting!" He called over his shoulder.
Olivia folded her arms, "Ivor, don't forget, Harper and I are going to be working. Try not to be too...distracting."
"Oh hush Olivia," he argued back, "I'm simply coming along to be ah...hm...moral support!"
"Moral support?" She deadpanned. "Then why did you invite Jesse?"
Jesse folded her arms as well, looking at Ivor with a grin, "Yeah, why did you really invite me to come along?"
The excitement in the alchemist's face shifted as he avoided eye contact and nervously tapped his hands together.
"Well, I figured since I won't be attending Biome Fest, and since the Order Hall will be empty...perhaps it would be a good time to invite Harper to see our world. A nice vacation from her work, and perhaps having Jesse there may increase the chance that Harper will accept. I-It's purely a mathematical and logical conclusion!"
The gears clicked in both Jesse and Olivia. Ivor knew, even with the New Order's word that he was changed, he wouldn't be welcomed at Biome Fest. Since both the New Order and most of town would be leaving, that left him alone in charge of looking over things while they were gone. Most of the time he probably wouldn't mind having the place to himself, but with Harper thrown into the equation…
"Oh I get it," Jesse replied, a suppressed giggle evident in her voice, "you want to ask Harper out on a date and need me to be your wingman."
Ivor's face went red, a glare forming in his expression, "No, no! That is not- I told you, it's a logical conclusion!"
"Oh of course, Ivor," Olivia teased, holding back snickers, "that's a very intriguing conclusion you came to."
Jesse was grinning ear to ear. A small part of her felt a bit bad for teasing him, seeing how flustered it was making him as Ivor struggled to think of a comeback, but it was just too funny. Heck, she'd call it downright adorable.
"Shut up, and get a move on!" Ivor finally shouted, quickly turning and walking through the portal. Jesse and Olivia shared a small laugh, before Olivia have a grin and headed through the portal. Jesse happily followed behind, releasing a few more laughs she was holding back before.
Author's Note: Hiya everyone! Thanks again for reading my story. I really appreciate all the feedback I got, and thank you for the kind words! *claps hands together* Anyway, I'm sure some of you might be asking "What about Soren and the Old Builders, what happened there?" Don't worry, that part of the story will be continued, just not for a couple of chapters. So stay tuned! In the meantime, we'll be following Jesse and company for most of the story.
...Hm. Seeing how this is a Minecraft Story Mode fic, I guess I should give a sneak peek of the next chapter like it's done in the game? Welp, here goes nothing.
*clears throat and attempts to do a Billy West impression*
"Upon seeing a strange sight in the Portal Hall, our heroes will stumble upon a world of strangeness and memories. Shadows from the past, both friend and foe, will come to confront them once more. What will our heroes do, when they discover a world shattering secret?"
*coughs* Okay yeah, I can't pull off a narrator voice without killing my throat. But joking aside, thanks again for reading! Hope you all are having a great Thanksgiving! See you next chapter!
