Jesse stared at Reuben in disbelief. The tiny, pink pig was riddled with bruises and scars. The tips of his ears were ragged and he was completely unkempt. As soon as he caught glimpse of Jesse, he froze, fear pooling into his eyes. He was afraid of her. She couldn't detect a trace of the pig she used to know. It made her so sad. One of her best friends feared her and, perhaps, detested her. Of course, Jesse knew that none of the negative reactions were truly her fault, but the look he kept on giving her...
Olivia, on the other hand, she could distinguish. She had the same frazzled hair and brown eyes, the same unimpressed look carved into her face. Her posture screamed out "too tired to deal with you" and she continued clenching her fists. She wore a ruby red armor with diamond encrusted borders for strength. Jesse could recognize some bits and pieces of her Olivia, and that relieved her immensely.
Axel, meanwhile, snorted at Olivia's entrance, rolling his eyes. "Let me guess, you were standing behind the door the whole time?" The girl narrowed her eyes, her tone sharpening in anger.
"Yes, I was!" She snapped. "All fifteen minutes! You were supposed to bind Jesse, not take a nap!" Axel gave her a bored look.
"Don't get your redstone in a twist, Olive," he said, motioning to the ropes that kept Jesse in place. "Jesse's completely bound." Olivia rolled her eyes, sighing bitterly.
"I'm quite aware of that, idiot. My question is why it took ten extra minutes to interrogate her." Axel shrugged and leaned back in his chair, flitting his eyes closed for a brief second. The girl clenched her jaw, breathing in and out slowly before clasping her hands together and pointing at the boy. "You are aware that the others are waiting for you, right?" She asked slowly, frustration seeping into her tone. Axel shrugged again, giving her a cocky smirk. Olivia stared at the stubborn boy before simply pacing out of the room, calling for the rest of her group. Jesse observed in silence as Axel reached forward and gave her a heavy pat on the shoulder.
"Heh, you're going to have a tough hour ahead, buddy." Jesse gave him a perplexed look.
"What do you mean by that?"
Unfortunately, Petra answered that question for her by bursting into the room with her sword unsheathed, almost skewering Jesse in the process. Petra looked feral. Her eyes were glinting with malevolence and Jesse swore she could hear a growl rising from the fighter's throat. Behind her, Lukas walked into the room in a leisure pace. He observed everything coldly, barely making a sound. Then walked in Soren, Gabriel, Ivor, and Magnus, Ivor and Magnus being the only ones who greeted Jesse. Olivia paced in behind all of them, slamming the door shut. She dragged Jesse a far bit away from the group of hostile beings, the chair emitting a loud scraping noise. The girl winced as her armor left bloody welts on her skin, yet remained silent, biting her tongue.
"All right, Axel and I have interrogated the prisoner and have concluded that she is, in fact, not our Jesse. We don't know where she's from, but I think she'll be glad to explain to the whole group, won't you, Jesse?" The girl narrowed her eyes at the threatening tone Olivia held.
"I thought you were done interrogating me." Olivia rolled her eyes.
"I'd rather not explain it to them. After all, primary sources are more reliable than secondary ones. So, explain," the girl replied, leering at Jesse. Jesse mulled it over a bit. She wanted to know what sort of world she was in. In order to do that, she needed to word what she said carefully and simply. The girl decided that it was best to start with the basics.
"Well, uh, I come from a world where there's only one moon and, during the night, mobs come out."
"Oh, wooooow, so exactly like every single world in existence?" Gabriel asked, raising his eyebrow mockingly. Jesse paused and almost told him that there were many different worlds with different attributes, but decided to go against telling them. Jesse nodded.
"I... guess so. In my world, I am part of the New Order of the Stone. I-"
"BULLSHIT." Jesse jumped at the outburst, swiveling her head to stare at an enraged Soren. He leered at her. "There's only one Order of the Stone and I am the leader of it!" Magnus gave him a strange look. "She did say she came from a different world. Maybe all of us died and were replaced by a new Order," the rogue suggested lightly, trembling a little bit when Soren turned his glare toward him.
"It's hard to believe any version of me can die and be replaced by a child." Jesse gave him a faint leer. It was clear that that version of Soren was very temperamental and unpleasant to be around, almost the complete opposite of the debatably charming Soren she used to know.
"Well then, good news: you didn't die. None of you died except for Ellegaard." Magnus shuddered at her name. Jesse continued: "Ellegaard died by helping me and my friends stop the Witherstorm. Uh, you guys know what a Witherstorm is, right?"
"A maggot that deserves to burn and broil in its own filth," Petra growled.
"Oh. I guess you do know what it is. It sort of almost destroyed the entire world until we all banded together to destroy it. We managed to do that, and all of us were labeled as the New Order of the Stone."
"Wait. You destroyed the Storm?" Ivor asked in a disbelieving tone. "How? Is there a weakness?"
"Yeah," Jesse replied. "Ivor put a failsafe in the block that was controlling it. Didn't you?" Ivor looked slightly sheepish. "No. I sort of... forgot." Soren gave him a leer.
"It's still out there then?" Jesse asked in a withering tone. Lukas nodded.
"Yes. And being controlled by you, to be precise," he stated coldly, slowly approaching the girl. Jesse felt baffled. Her? Control the Witherstorm? That was ridiculous. She would never willingly control the monster Ivor had created. However, after hearing about Jesse's counterpart...
"No way. I would never do that!" The girl immediately rejected. Lukas tilted his head.
"Are you sure? You abandoned us as soon as you got your hands on it."
"That wasn't me. That Jesse is not me," the hero insisted, her voice straining on the verge of hysteria. The boy in front of her snorted in disbelief.
"Right. You just so happen to come from a world where all of us exist in. You just so happen to come from a world where the Witherstorm exists. Too coincidental, if you ask me. You're lying." Jesse didn't know what to say, or what to do. If she denied it, then he would just keep on claiming that she was lying. If she agreed, then they would probably kill her. Jesse narrowed her eyes, desperately trying to think of a counterargument. Thankfully, Axel intervened.
"C'mon, Blondie," he said. "Jesse doesn't act this way. Can't you see how emotional she's getting? Totally not the same Jesse who betrayed us." Lukas sneered at the larger boy.
"Right. Because you can tell the difference between a friend and a traitor." Axel gave him a sharp laugh.
"Yes, in fact, I can. I've known Jesse my whole life, and I can tell you, she never acted this way. I believe her. Let's let her go. Besides, we can always kill and then loot her if she turns into a liar." Olivia nodded in agreement.
"I believe her too. Do the rest of you agree?" The rest murmured their agreement, the only ones showing disapproval were Soren and Lukas. However, majority ruled, and Axel tore the binding off Jesse. The girl sighed in relief when the ropes were snapped off, finally being able to get rid of the pins and needles tickling her arm. She gave the group a big grin. "Thanks." Olivia gave her a curt nod before motioning to Petra.
"Petra, escort... Jessica to her new room, and guard it. Make sure that no one gets in or out without our permission." The feral girl smiled enthusiastically before turning to Jesse with an unsettling grin. Without a word, the warrior grabbed onto the girl's hand with an iron grip and practically tossed her out of the room, dragging her down the hallway. Jesse barely heard Axel laugh heartily behind her.
"Have fun, you two!"
Ohhhhh myyyyy Witherstorm. This took so long to finish and edit. Seriously. I didn't know how to make them interact or interrogate, so I just went with the best guess I could go by.
Please tell me how I'm doing so far. I have no idea how this chapter ended up.
Note: I am an idiot. In the first chapter, I stated that my inspiration came from a fanfiction named Sinking Feeling. There is no fanfiction named that. The real name of the fanfiction is Sealing Cracks. Damn. Sorry.