A/N: About the sequel - I'm working on it as I'm doing this. That project takes a lot more thinking and planning than this one, because I have to organize ideas into episodes and write decent plots. I think I will start releasing chapters once this is finished. Since there are only six chapters in Episode 5, this shouldn't take too long.

I'm switching from copying dialogue verbatim to paraphrasing every line.

The trek back through the jungle and outlying woodlands took all night. Jess, Petra, Axel, and Olivia soldiered through the wilds on their way home. They were tired, but thinking about the exciting enchanted flint and steel energized them. The sun had just cleared the horizon when the gates of their town came into view. They walked down a stone path flanked with stout oak trees. The sun was bright, the day was warm, and the future looked pretty good.

"Finally, I can recognize stuff again," Axel said, relieved. "Feels good to be home."

Petra nodded. "I second that."

Jess looked over and noticed that Olivia seemed less happy than the others. The girl walked with her hands clasped behind her back and her head drooping down.

Jess patted her on the shoulder. "Olivia? Is something wrong? You seem pretty quiet."

"I can't stop thinking about what Aiden said," Olivia answered. "I mean, part of it's true. We do find and keep a lot of treasure. And, if you looked at it from the right angle, I guess we do throw our weight around sometimes."

"No, we don't do that," Axel protested. "Aiden is just super jealous. That's it."

"Hmm-mm." Olivia didn't seem so convinced.

Axel's theory about the jealousy seemed the most plausible to Jess. "Axel's right. Aiden's jealous. He sees our cool armor, the sweet treasure we find on adventures, and he wants it too!"

Olivia shrugged, still mostly unconvinced. "I guess so."

Why did she have to be such a stick in the mud?

The giant stone gates creaked open, revealing the bright and clean streets of Jess's town. Freshly rebuilt stone cottages lined the street. Reuben's memorial stood where anyone could see it, the diorite stone polished to a mirror shine. There weren't many people out and about yet, since it was fairly early in the morning.

"Aiden can think whatever he wants about us." Petra removed her helmet and shook out her fiery red hair. "There's one thing for certain."

"What?" Olivia questioned.

"They think we're pretty awesome!" She pointed at two townspeople standing nearby. One was a guy and the other was a lady with a ponytail.

The guy gasped when he saw Jess and hopped excitedly. "They're back! Oh my gosh! They're back!"

The lady's excitement was just as great as his; she made shooing motions at him. "Go, run! Tell everybody that our heroes are back in town."

The man took off down the street, waving his arms and shouting for everyone's attention. People stuck their heads out of house windows and storefronts, then got caught up in the frenzy when they realized that the New Order had returned from their mission. A roar of a cheering crowd sounded, and soon people were flooding the streets. They swarmed the sidewalks on either side, eager for a chance to simply be near their heroes. Jess and her friends were legit celebrities.

Jess smiled at her fans, but then suddenly Axel shoved her out of the way to bask in the spotlight. She tumbled to the ground.

"You heard it right, folks!" he hooted, flexing his biceps. "The New Order of the Stone is back in town!"

Jess stumbled back to her feet and brushed gravel off her armor. She sighed. Oh, Axel. At least no-one had laughed at her when she fell down. Keeping her cool, she rejoined the group and led the procession down the street. All around her, people clamored for attention and shouted compliments.

"You guys are so cool."

"I like Olivia's armor the best."

"Psh! Petra's is cooler."

To think that less than a year ago, no-one knew or cared about the names Jess, Olivia, Axel, or Petra. She knew she was supposed to stay modest, but it was awful hard with all the compliments people were giving.

She waved to the fans. "Gee, thanks, everyone. It's great to be home. Say, now that my friends and I are back, how's about we throw a little party?"

The crowd cheered. Some tossed hats in the air in excitement.

"Jess! I love you," someone yelled. "You're my favorite Order member!"

Abruptly a fan broke out of the crowd and rushed onto the street, stopping in front of Jess. It was the excited woman from before. She grinned so hard that her cheeks must have hurt, and held up her hand for a high-five.

"Welcome baaa-aack!" she trilled.

Jess was slightly taken aback, but she knew it would be rude not to high-five. She gave the fan's hand a smack and flashed them a winsome smile. Satisfied, the fan scurried over to her friend, looked at their hand in wonder, and babbled about how awesome that was.

"Di-di-di-did you see that?" she stammered. "Jess high-fived me! ME! I'm never gonna wash this hand again!"

"Ew," the friend remarked.

Unfazed, the fan continued, "She high-fives kinda hard, though. Must be because of the gauntlets for her armor. But it was so awesome. Oh, gosh, I feel a little lightheaded…"

The fan fainted on the spot. Jess was a little concerned, but the fan's friend managed to bring her back by fanning her and splashing some water on her face. Jess continued the procession. They were on their way to their hangout, the Order Hall, to deposit their finds from the temple.

Suddenly, a scream ripped through the air. It wasn't a fangirl screech; it was a real, frightened cry. All four New Order members whipped around to see who had screamed. When they did, they saw a bizarre structure looming over a small gathering of disgruntled citizens. It was a skull-shaped monstrosity of stone brick, held up on tentacle-like supports. A flow of bubbling lava poured out of its mouth.

"Uh, that wasn't a happy scream. Something's not right here," a concerned Olivia observed.

Petra stared at the...whatever that structure was supposed to be. "That wasn't there yesterday. It looks like a weird skull sitting on tentacles."

"And barfing lava," Olivia added. "Blech."

Jess was less concerned about the tastefulness of the design and more about the flow of molten rock pouring right out of the thing's mouth and onto the street. Yes, the street where hundreds of ordinary citizens walked every day. The last thing she needed were reports about people getting burned to death by unregulated lava.

"Lava pouring out onto the street? That's so dangerous!" Jess complained, thrusting out her arms in frustration. "Someone could get burned!"

"Pssh," Axel scoffed.

"Didn't Community Planning pass that rule about regulations on lava in builds?" Olivia inquired.

"Yes. They did," Jess replied. "All right, who built this?"

She got her answer when someone yelled, "Not my fault! If someone gets burned, it's theirs for not being more careful!"

Their voice sounded familiar, but Jess couldn't place it right away. She and the others hurried over to the site of the build to make sense of the situation and intervene before it got any worse.

"Stop with the useless griping!" an old man with a beard snapped at the people, from his perch in the build. "In comparison to this glorious tower, your little injuries are inconsequential!"

Jess gaped as she recognized him.

Petra sighed. "Ivor. Of course it's Ivor."

"Oh! Hello, Jess!" Ivor called down to them. "Don't listen to those philistines. They just don't know art when they see it."

"It's a fire hazard," a frustrated old woman said to Jess. "Do you want someone getting burned if they get too close to this hideous thing?"

"Your face is an ugly hazard!" Ivor retaliated.

Jess sighed. "Ivor, why are you making trouble again?"

"I'm not making trouble," he protested. "I'm merely having a discussion with the local community. They seem to be cerebrally impaired at the moment."

The old woman piped up again. "This-this thing has to come down now."

"Jess, listen to me please," Ivor pleaded. "I just want what anyone wants: a place to call my own. With loads of lava pouring out of it!"

Petra tugged at her hair. "I know you mean well, but your house wants to kill people."

Axel was oblivious to the controversy (or the danger) of the house, instead enchanted by the river of lava leaking from it. "Dude. You made a killer house."

"Exactly!" the annoying old lady snapped. "Killer. It's dangerous and it can't stand!"

"Oh, shut up!" Ivor yelled at her.

Jess frantically tried to come up with a compromise. "We could, um, try moving it somewhere else. Maybe out of the city limits? Somewhere where there's less chance of-"

"Move it?" Ivor scoffed. "Then the lava will make an even bigger mess. No can do, Jess. Sorry."

Jess's shoulders sagged. No simple compromise.

"It's your decision, Jess," the lady piped up once again. "We need to tear this down. Will you help?"

Ivor suddenly leapt from his perch, landed flawlessly on the ground (he had trained himself to fall from a height without injuring himself) and hurried up to Jess. In his excitement, he totally forgot about personal space and crowded her.

"It's my house, Jess," he said, desperately clinging to her shoulders. "Don't I have a right to build what I want, like everyone else?"

"Uh…" Jess droned, trying to think of what to say.

"They're just jealous. They don't have my creative vision. All they have is...blech...Community Planning."

Jess bit her lip, caught in a difficult decision. Granted, the lava house was dangerous. But didn't Ivor have a right to build what he wanted? She supposed it wasn't malicious. Ivor just liked to use lava, for whatever reason. Other people had built ridiculous things before, and Community Planning had left them alone, so why make an exception for this? But it was a fire hazard, wasn't it? Oh, hard decisions.

Jess spoke up to the crowd. "Okay, guys, work with me here. Ivor put a lot of time and thought into his build. I don't think it's right to tear it down just because we don't like how it looks. We gotta respect it just like we'd respect a house that wasn't, uh, dripping lava. Let's leave it alone."

People groaned in disappointment. Some even started to boo.

"We can find a workaround!" Jess promised.

"Ha-ha-ha!" Ivor gloated. "It stays. Long live my lava house. Long live lava! Ha! Thanks, Jess. I knew there was someone in this town who could be reasonable."

Disgruntled citizens walked past him, going back home. They gave him dirty looks as they passed him by. Olivia shook her head, disappointed that such a dangerous structure was going to stand, and a delighted Axel did a happy dance.

"Keep walking, you philistines," Ivor said to the people leaving. "That's right, keep walking! Take your anti-intellectualism and go!"

"It's a good thing you're a gracious winner," Petra said sarcastically.

"Hilarious," Ivor said equally as drily; to Jess he said, "It's been a while, Jess. Must've been a long mission. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"We're fresh from going to that temple you told us about," Jess explained. "The one in the jungle, y'know?"

"You did?" Ivor suddenly closed in on Jess, as if she had just told him a juicy conspiracy theory.

In case passersby were listening, he pretended to be having a much more mundane conversation: "You don't say, Jess! Oh, you're too funny. We should do lunch sometime. You can bring whatever you want, and I'll bring carrots."

Jess gave him a weird look.

He pulled her close and whispered, "You never know who's listening, Jess. We need to talk somewhere safer. Meet me in the Order Hall in 10 minutes. And bring whatever you found!"

Ivor let go of her and hurried away to do whatever it is an Ivor does all day. Stunned from his theatrics, Jess was frozen in place for a second. Petra walked up behind her and patted her on the back. Meanwhile, Axel tried to touch the lava pouring from the house, but Olivia batted his hand away.

"Okay," said Olivia. "If that, uh, house is going to stand, we should build a barrier to keep the lava from flowing all over the place. Maybe put a glass screen around it? For safety, you know."

"But not too safe," Axel chortled.

Olivia pulled him aside. "Let's go dig up some sand so we can make glass. When we build the barrier, you can be in charge of deciding what's the 'right amount' of safe."

"M'okay," he muttered as they headed off to do that.

To Jess, Olivia said, "We'll catch up with you after that."

"After this piece of art has the respect it deserves," Axel added.

Before they left, Jess wanted to compliment them for their action at the jungle temple. "Hey. You guys did really well last night."

"Yep. Not too bad," Axel replied.

"Thanks, Jess," Olivia said, ignoring Axel. "We should do that more often. It's fun."

"See you later!" Petra called after them.

Jess turned aside. "Let's go get Ivor."

So they did.


It was always very quiet in the Order Hall, almost as peaceful as a church. It was a fine building made of quartz, stone brick, and gold. Even though she had been in it many times, Jess still looked around admiringly at the treasures on display-all the goodies she and her friends had acquired on their adventures. Petra gazed it the stuff with intrigue as well. The first few things on display were small treasures like sponges, Boom Town banners, or Ghast tears. Then it worked its way up to more valuable items like Ender Pearls, diamonds, and music records. The raised part of the floor held the best treasure: the armor from Ivor's armoury, the Ender Dragon egg, and the purple Nether Star the Witherstorm had dropped. Today, however, someone whom Jess considered a treasure stood in the midst of the hall, curiously examining some of the shinies.

"Oh! Hi, Lukas!" Petra called when she saw him. "It's been a while, buddy."

"Hey, guys," he said, climbing down the stairs. "I was just checking out the Order Hall. This is one cool place. I'm impressed."

"Aww, it's great to see you, Lukas," Jess said, smiling at him. "I missed having you around."

"Missed you, too." He grinned back at her.

It was true. She had wanted him to join the New Order of the Stone after they defeated the Wither Storm. He totally deserved it, since he had worked so hard to help them. He had respectfully declined, though, saying that he felt he belonged with his old friends, the Ocelots.

But if the Ocelots were the Blaze Rods now…

And didn't Aiden say he ditched Lukas?

"Gee, would ya take a look at all that treasure," Lukas mused, glancing around the room. "I guess you've been pretty busy."

He glanced aside and caught sight of the Reuben memorial on the far wall. Specifically, it was a banner bearing Reuben's face, with the porkchop he dropped in a leather frame. A small light shone on it, and flowers were placed beneath it.

"Oh, wow," he said softly. "Reuben. You made a memorial for him."

"Yeah," Jess whispered.

He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "How have you been doing?"

Jess sighed. "I still really, really miss him. I wake up every morning and think, hey, maybe he's just outside digging up carrots...but then I have to remember all over again that he's gone."

She felt tears in the corners of her eyes. She blinked them away.

Lukas swiped some hair out of his face, looking downcast. "Jess, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

It was as if a heavy quilt of sadness had been draped over the room. Petra leaned on one hip and looked at the floor. Jess's shoulders sagged.

"Okay, okay. I promise I didn't come to dampen everyone's day," Lukas spoke up. "I actually came because I wanted to talk to you about something. I had a weird encounter with Aiden. He was super ticked about you."

Petra sucked in a sharp breath. "Aiden. That punk."

Lukas upturned his hands. "Something you said or did really, really got to him."

Jess could tell that Lukas was having a hard time talking about Aiden. It must have stung to be dumped by his former friends. Lukas hadn't said much about getting ditched by the Ocelots-turned-Blaze Rods, but he clearly was affected by it.

"Yeah, he and his henchmen showed up at the temple last night. The New Order and the Blaze Rods are still in such harmony," she said, sarcasm palpable.

"He's a real charmer, ain't he?" Petra rolled her eyes.

"He's been so jealous of you guys ever since you defeated the Witherstorm and saved the world. He thought that he should have been the hero."

"He told me the hero stuff was crap!" Jess blurted. "Is he not right in the head or something?"

Lukas shrugged. "It seems like that sometimes. When he kicked me out and took over the Ocel-erm, Blaze Rods, he just...he seems a lot meaner than before. He's even pushing Maya and Gill around."

"You're right," Jess said, walking up the stairs. "He actually scared me a little last night. He made threats, he pushed Axel to the ground...he actually pulled a sword on us and demanded I hand over the treasure I found."

"Speaking of treasure," Lukas said, "what was the trinket that got him all riled up, anyway?"

"Lo and behold," Jess announced, pulling the enchanted flint and steel from her pocket. Lukas and Petra also walked up the steps to get a better look at it.

"Wow. Weird, I've never seen a blue flint and steel before. Does it have some kind of enchantment on it?"

"I don't know." Jess turned the pieces over in her hands. "For now, I'm going to show it to-"

Ivor suddenly was next to her. "You found it! Brilliant!"

"Gah!" the three kids yelped.

"Geez, thanks for the heart attack!" Petra complained. "Don't do that."

"Ivor! Don't sneak up on me like that." Jess put a hand on her chest and tried to get her breathing back to normal. "That scared me."

"I'm sorry. It's just that-augh, it's so exciting! This is a grand discovery! The grandest of this era! And you have it right there, holding it in your hands."

"What makes it so special? I mean, it's got an enchantment, but it's just a flint and steel under that, right?"

"Wrong!" Ivor snapped. "It's not just 'an enchantment.' It's so much more than that. It's no ordinary magic. This is the work of a group of builders. An old group, a group that existed even before the Order of the Stone."

"Wow," Petra commented. Whether that referred to the 'old builders' or just Ivor's histrionics was unclear.

"I get it, it's special," Jess said, exasperated. "But what does it do?"

Ivor scratched behind his ear and admitted, "I, uh, don't really know."

Jess glared at him.

"Well, don't be upset," he said. "If we don't know, that means we get to experiment to find out. For honor! For glory! For science!"

"Sure, Ivor." Petra gave Jess a 'can you believe this weirdo' look.

"Besides, it's already confirmed my basic theories. This proves that there really were Old Builders, and what's more, you've found their temple. That means we're close to finally finding the legendary Eversource!"

"Here we go. You came just in time for a performance, Lukey." Petra elbowed Lukas. He winced in pain. Petra didn't know her own power sometimes.

"Don't call me Lukey," he muttered through the pain.

"The Ever what now?" Jess blinked, confused. "How legendary can it be if we've never heard of it?"

"The Eversource!" Ivor snapped. "It's called the Eversource! Ugh!"

"Okee-dokee. Are you doing to, uh, tell us what that is, or are you just going to keep saying its name?" Lukas fiddled with the strap on his silver goggles.

Ivor started pacing and rubbing his hands together. "Legend has it that the Eversource was some kind of artifact the Old Builders owned. They say it is an object of unlimited power, because it can create unlimited valuable resources. Imagine the building potential of that!"

Ivor was acting ridiculous, but Jess had to admit that he had a point with the building potential of this Eversource gizmo, if indeed it existed. Sometimes a shortage of a certain kind of block or item forestalled progress on a build and made people short-tempered and angry. And who had to deal with those angry people but the resident leader, Jess of the New Order of the Stone? An unlimited supply of resources, if well managed, could prevent such contentions.

"I've never heard of the Old Builders or their Eversource before," Petra remarked. "You learn something new every day. Especially when you're an adventurer."

"Adventure!" Ivor cheered.

"All right. So we have this magic flintensteel that may have belonged to these Old Builder characters. But how will that get us to the Eversource? Do you know where it is?"

"I was part of the Order, Jess." Ivor stroked his black beard. "I've traveled the world. And yet, in all of my travels, only that temple was concrete proof of the Old Builders. If we find any more links to the Eversource, that will surely be the place."

"He does have a point," Petra admitted. "It's a good link. And I mean, I'm always up for an adventure. Old Builders, an Eversource, an ancient mystery...it sounds like a lot of fun!"

"Splendid!" Ivor clapped his hands and hopped up and down like a child. "I'm going to go pack my adventuring gear posthaste."

With that, he scurried off to pack his baggage. Petra paused, then turned to Jess with a perturbed look.

"Waitwaitwaitiwaitwait. Don't tell me Ivor's coming with us!"

Jess smiled sheepishly. What could she do about it? Besides, having Ivor along might be fun and maybe a bit helpful, too.

Lukas piped up. "Sounds like you guys have some excitement ahead of you. I guess it's time for me to scoot."

He started to walk away, but Petra grabbed the back of his shirt to stop him. "Oh, no, you don't. I need a buffer between me and Ivor. That's gonna be you, blond guy."

"Okay," Lukas said meekly.

Jess cracked her knuckles. "Okay, New Order! Let's go!"

They sprinted out of the Order Hall, following Ivor.


Jess was a little disappointed about having to go back to the jungle so soon. She barely got any time to sit down and recover from her first adventure before having to start on another one. Ivor led the way through the jungle, all the while hopping and bopping like an excited little kid. Petra kept her distance from him. Lukas wasn't used to traveling in a jungle; occasionally he would mutter that it was too hot or the air was too humid or that there were too many bugs flying around and bothering him. Pushing aside an endless stream of bushes and shrubbery, they trekked back to the old temple. When they finally arrived (scaring a trio of ocelots), Ivor was ecstatic.

"Okay, Lukas," Petra said. "I know monsters don't come out during the day, but there are lots of dark caves they could be hiding in. Could you keep an eye out for us?"

"Uh-huh," Lukas replied. He had a bow and sword with him, so he was prepared.

"Splendiferous scenery!" Ivor gushed from the front of the line. He danced a little happy dance.

Petra rolled her eyes. "Why did we let him come with? I mean, if he's so excited, that's good for him, but he definitely wouldn't be my choice of companion."

"Petra, don't be so hard on him. He's a riot! He makes me laugh," Jess replied, then quickly corrected herself. "In a good way, I mean. Not laughing at him or anything. That's mean."

"Okay. It's his journey, I guess," Petra said with a shrug.

"These trees are enormous!" Ivor thrust his arms to the air and waved them around. "It's glorious!"

Petra gave Jess a Look and rolled her eyes. "It gets pesky every now and then. I don't want to babysit a grown man for this adventure."

He ran ahead in excitement when the temple came into view. "A marvel of architecture. Ancient and exquisite!"

Jess nodded. "I'm glad your happy. You're finally enjoying yourself."

Ivor's eyebrows perked in panic. "Who is smiling? I'm not smiling. Smiling is for ninnies."

They group filed into the temple. Now that it was daytime, the lighting and atmosphere were drastically different. At night, the temple had seemed lively, dark, and unpredictable. In the daylight, however, it seemed dormant and tame. A lot less exciting. Unless one was Ivor, of course. Ivor could have been excited in an empty gray room if it were leading him to this fabled Eversource. A light breeze fluttered the vines dangling from the ceiling, and golden bars of sunlight punched through holes in the stone walls.

Jess voiced her thoughts. "It sure looks different during the day."

"Even so, we must be on guard," Ivor instructed, snapping back into serious mode. "There could be a trap anywhere."

They dispersed to investigate the temple and find a clue or two.

"I know, Ivor. I was here last night," Petra called over her shoulder.

"Petra, young lady-" Ivor began, sounding as if he was going to scold her, but then switched tones: "-are you as excited as I am? What about you, blond guy?"

"Yeah, I don't really think that's possible," Petra responded.

"Don't call me Blond Guy!" Lukas protested.

While that conversation was going on, Jess wandered over to one of the lava flows. It was one of the lava channels from the puzzle. Curious, she gave the lever a flick. Nothing happened. Perhaps the mechanism had broken? The lava had damaged part of the temple when the stairs burned. She walked over to the other end of the temple. But first, she stopped to talk to Petra.

"Is there some secret part of this temple we missed?" Jess asked. "How could we have missed an entire extra area?"

"Don't feel so bad," Petra consoled. "We were fighting a ton of monsters, remember? I don't blame you for missing a detail or two."

Petra went back to poking around the sealed door in the floor, and Jess went back to pacing around the temple in search of a clue. She noticed a shaft of light shining into the temple behind Ivor. For a second, she thought it was a heavenly halo (was it a divine sign?) but then she realized it was sunlight coming through a hole in the ceiling. She glanced up.

She scratched the back of her neck. "I don't remember that being there last night."

Well, she wasn't going to stand here and stare at it all day. A string of vines hung from it, providing a way up.

"Hey, guys!" she called to her friends. "I found a way up."

"Excellent. We'll be right behind you," Ivor said.

Jess swung up on the vines and started climbing. This climb was much easier than last night's, because she had neither spiders from above nor fire from below to deal with. She was climbing for curiosity, not her life. That was much more ideal.

She stepped onto the wooden platform making up the floor of the second level and the ceiling of the first. "Do you guys think the Eversource thingy will be up here?"

"It's hard to say one way or another, Jess," Ivor replied, his voice muffled under the floor. "The legends say that the Old Builders hid it away due to its terrible power."

Jess wondered if Ivor wasn't just making up these "legends" on the spot. She hoped she and her friends weren't running in circles. On its second floor, the temple didn't have any windows. There were fewer vines. The only real prominent feature was a lone pressure plate in the middle of the floor. Jess was a little wary of it, fearing it might trigger a trap. A pressure plate in plain sight was usually suspect.

While Ivor continued to chatter in the background, Jess approached it and bent down to examine it. After a little bit, she decided she was prepared for the consequences and pressed the plate down with her foot. When she did so, an arch built of quartz and gold pushed out of the wall. It looked almost like a decorated quartz version of a Nether portal, albeit unlit.

Ivor heard the grinding noises when the arch was pushed out; he yelled, "Jess! What do you see?" When he climbed up to the second floor and got a look at it himself, he gasped in wonder.

"Is it some kind of portal" Lukas wondered aloud.

"It doesn't look like any kind of portal I know," Jess said. "Where would it go?"

Ivor shrugged. "I haven't an idea."

It gave Jess a wonderful idea. She had just the sort of trinket in her pocket for activating portals. If a regular old flint and steel could light up Nether portals, who knew what fancy things a magic flintensteel could do?

"Here we go." She struck the flint to the steel.

The portal lit in a spray of bright blue sparks. It lit with such force that it blew the four of them backwards. They landed on their backs and bounced against the stone. The flintensteel went flying out of Jess's hands; the pieces rolled across the floor.

When they settled, a different pair of hands was ready to reclaim them.

Aiden, having followed close on Jess's trail, bent down and scooped the prize off the floor. He traced his fingers over the flint and steel eagerly. He could feel the magic pulsing within it.

"That was thoughtful of you to bring this back to me," Aiden purred. "Thanks, Jess."

Jess rolled up to sitting position and spun around to see her enemy. Gill and Maya were right at Aiden's heels, as always. Her own friends got up on their feet and whirled around to face Aiden as well. Petra and Lukas glared poisonously at him. Ivor looked horrified to see the treasure in his hands instead of their rightful owner's.

"I knew you were good for something," Aiden continued. "Not much, of course, but something."

"Oh, no, Aiden. You have no idea what you're doing. It's too powerful to fool around with it. Give it back."

Inwardly, she was panicking. What kind of trouble could he get into if he used that? Or worse, if he somehow got his hands on the even more powerful Eversource?

"Big words from the girl who got knocked on her tush trying to use it," Aiden chortled. "You should just step aside. The Blaze Rods are gonna use that portal."

"No freaking way!" Petra snapped.

Lukas shook his head fiercely. "No. You're not gonna do this. We won't let you."

Jess smiled at Lukas. She was glad to have him backing her up. He was willing to stand against his old "friends" to protect his true friends.

Aiden snapped his fingers. "Blaze Rods? Clear me a path."

Maya and Gill instantly drew their swords. In response, the New Order pulled out their own weapons. Jess didn't know why they bothered. It was two Blaze Rods versus three New Order members (Ivor didn't count, because he seemed to be unarmed.)

Gill suddenly rushed at Jess. He was surprisingly fast-reflexed. He made a wide swing at her; Jess bent over backwards to dodge it. He wouldn't give up and answered with more offensive swings. Jess blocked them with skill. She had trained well, but it seemed that Gill had as well. Meanwhile, Petra dealt with Maya and Lukas faced off with Aiden.

Gill slammed his sword hard into Jess's. She tensed her arm muscles to hold him back. Either the hard diamond or the enchantment whined as the swords clashed. Jess managed to outmatch Gill's force and bring him down. He flopped to the floor. But then he suddenly kicked Jess in the gut and downed her. While Petra and Lukas were distracted by Jess getting hurt, Aiden hurried toward the portal.

Hanging halfway out of it, he shouted to his cronies, "Come on! This is our steal!"

Maya and Gill pushed past Jess and her friends, sliding into the portal before anyone could stop them.

"Darn it!" Petra growled. "Those little cheats."

"We can't let them slip away," Ivor said, pulling a splash harming potion out of his pocket. "Especially if they're after the Eversource."

"What about Axel and Olivia?" Jess stammered.

Ivor shook his head. "No time. We need to get to the Eversource before Aiden does."

"Usually I wouldn't agree with Ivor," Petra said, "but he's right. Aiden's nothing but trouble. We have to stop him."

"Okay, you're right. Go."

Lukas and Petra were the first ones through the portal; Ivor was close behind. Jess brought up the back. She dashed into the blue goo of the portal, not allowing herself to have any second thoughts.

What had started out as a fun adventure had suddenly become a critical mission.

They had to find the Eversource now, or risk having it fall into malicious hands.